Services
I am available to assist and guide you throughout your Workers Compensation Claim.
I wll be the only lawyer assisting you throughout your claim and we'll work as a team to achieve the best Workers Compenstaion benefits you are entitled to by the law.
WHAT ARE YOU ENTITLED TO?
IMPAIRMENT BENEFITGenerally, you can claim a lump sum for permanent impairment. This part of the Workers Compensation Claim occurs after 12 months since the injury date and your Doctors consider your injuries are permanent and stable(this means there is not much of a change expected in the forseeable future in your clinical condition).
The amount of any financial compensation will depend on your injury, when it happened and impairment you are assessed at. A mininmum 10% Whole Person Impairment needs to be assessed for monetory compensation.
You do not need to prove anyone's fault to be eligible to for this part of your claim.- This is a No Fault impairment process.
Payment of lump sum compensation for permanent impairment does not affect your entitlement to weekly payments or ongoing funding of medical and like expenses, or prevent lodgement (if appropriate) of a further claim for common law damages if you have sustained a serious injury.
COMMON LAW
You may be able to claim for additional financial compensation under Common Law if your injuries are are determined to be 'serious' and at least partly the fault of your employer.
Common law claims are for: - pain and suffering - loss of earnings (if you have sustained at least 40% of your earning capacity) - loss of future superannuation contributions.
SERIOUS INJURY CERTIFICATE You are deemed to have sustained a serious injury if you have a whole person impairment is assessed at 30% or greater.
An impairment assessment of 30% is an extremely high threshold and the majority of claims are do not reach this impairment. The majority of serious injury applications are therefore made on a the ‘narrative test’.
The 'narrative' is your specific injuries and how these injuries have impacted on your quality of life.
If your impairment is assessed at less than 30% an application for a Serious Injury Certificate needs to be made to Work Safe Victoria and if rejected by Work Safe, an application is made in the appropriate Court.
Before you are able to sue your employer for Common Law damages, you must first establish that your injury qualifies as a ‘Serious Injury’. If you cannot prove that they meet this definition then you can't claim damages even though the employer may have been negligent in not providing a safe workplace.
Work Safe or the Court will grant a Serious Injury certificate if it is satisfied that you have sustained either:
- Serious long term impairment or loss of body function; or - Permanent serious disfigurement; or - Severe long term mental or severe long term behavioural disturbance. - Loss of a foetus. What is a Serious Injury? The question of whether an injury is ‘serious’ depends on how the injury has impacted your life. This varies between indivduals. For example, an injured finger is unlikely to be considerd a ‘serious injury’ if you can still perform daily activities with minor restrictions and not resulting in considerable ongoing pain. However, for a trained violinist , an injured finger would be determined to be ‘serious’ as missing a finger would impact significantly.
The injury needs to also be determined as permanent and stabilised. You must also show that your injury extends beyond the initial incident and will impact your activities into the foreseeable future and unlikely to get substantially better or worse with no plans for any major treatment such as surgery.
Such considerations on the effect the work injury has had on you include the following: - ongoing experience of pain or distress - ongoing medication and physical therapy required to manage their symptoms - impact on sleep, social and domestic relationships - effect on hobbies or sporting activities. The 'Serious Injury Certificate' application is very complicated and I will guide and assist you throughout this process. I retain Barristers experienced in this area of the law and that also provide their services on a 'no win no' fee basis.
A common law claim for pain and suffering and loss of earnings compensation must be lodged within 6 years of the date of injury otherwise your right to claim for damges may be lost. The law changes and entitlements for a Workers Compensation Claim can change. What was the law a year ago may be different now. This is why I keep in constant contact with my clients.
- Serious long term impairment or loss of body function; or - Permanent serious disfigurement; or - Severe long term mental or severe long term behavioural disturbance. - Loss of a foetus. What is a Serious Injury? The question of whether an injury is ‘serious’ depends on how the injury has impacted your life. This varies between indivduals. For example, an injured finger is unlikely to be considerd a ‘serious injury’ if you can still perform daily activities with minor restrictions and not resulting in considerable ongoing pain. However, for a trained violinist , an injured finger would be determined to be ‘serious’ as missing a finger would impact significantly.
The injury needs to also be determined as permanent and stabilised. You must also show that your injury extends beyond the initial incident and will impact your activities into the foreseeable future and unlikely to get substantially better or worse with no plans for any major treatment such as surgery.
Such considerations on the effect the work injury has had on you include the following: - ongoing experience of pain or distress - ongoing medication and physical therapy required to manage their symptoms - impact on sleep, social and domestic relationships - effect on hobbies or sporting activities. The 'Serious Injury Certificate' application is very complicated and I will guide and assist you throughout this process. I retain Barristers experienced in this area of the law and that also provide their services on a 'no win no' fee basis.
A common law claim for pain and suffering and loss of earnings compensation must be lodged within 6 years of the date of injury otherwise your right to claim for damges may be lost. The law changes and entitlements for a Workers Compensation Claim can change. What was the law a year ago may be different now. This is why I keep in constant contact with my clients.