Settlements

Restrictions can add value to your Workers’ Compensation case.

The restrictions must be caused by your Work Comp injury.

The restrictions must also be imposed by your doctor.

It is not enough for you to testify that your injury causes you to miss work or that you are limited in your lifting ability.

The doctor must actually put the restriction in your medical records.

The same goes for missing work. It is not enough to say that you were sick because of your injury. You will need an off work slip from your doctor.

Your restrictions may or may not affect your abilities at work.

For instance, you may have a restriction of needing to limit your lifting to 30 pounds.

This limitation would certainly restrict you at home, but if you work a sit down job it will not limit you at work.

This restriction will increase the value of your case, however it will not result in any kind of wage differential case.

If your job involved lifting boxes weighing from 20 to 50 pounds, then the 30 pound restriction will keep you from doing your old job.

This would result in the need for a job change and possibly a wage difference case if the new job pays you less than your old job.

Questions about your work injury? Feel free to contact Illinois Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Dirk May at 309-827-4371.

In Illinois there is no strict payment schedule for work injuries.

It is based on past awards the judges (arbitrators) and commissioners have made for similar injuries.

For instance, if you have a herniated disc in your back and you have a wage of $500 per week the value of the case is calculated as follows:

Backs are worth a total of 500 weeks. 10 percent of the back for the herniated disc equals 50 weeks. You multiply 50 weeks times 60 percent of the weekly wage of $500. 60 percent is used because the Workers’ Compensation law provides this is the percentage used for permanent partial disability or the settlement. This results in a value of $15,000. This is just an example of how the numbers work out and not a hard and fast rule of what the value of the case may actually turn out to be.

For injuries after August 31, 2011, the value of most cases will go down because of a change in the law but not by a dramatic amount.

Be careful because some insurance companies are claiming that your case has very low value or no value.

This is not true for most cases.

Do you have to take the insurance company offer?

No, if you have concerns about the work comp offer you should contact an experienced Illinois Workers’ Compensation Lawyer.

Attorney fees are based on a percentage of what you recover at the end of the case. This is a great advantage to you and the amount of the written offer is not subject to fees.

Questions about your work injury case? Feel free to contact Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney Dirk May at 309-827-4371.

You need to make sure that you are not settling for below your case’s value.

But won’t a lawyer cost you money?

No, in Illinois you do not have to pay a lawyer to review your settlement and any written offer you receive before talking with a lawyer is protected from the 20 percent attorney fee. Of course, if the lawyer gets you additional money then it is subject to the fee agreement.

Many Work Comp insurance companies are taking advantage of the change in the law effective September 2011 and giving injured workers wrong information.

They either tell the injured worker that their injury is not worth any settlement. This is incorrect. Most work injuries have value.

Or the insurance company tells the injured worker that the value of their work injury is very low due to the change in the law. This is also incorrect.
The value of the injury may be lower after September 2011 but it is usually not as low as the insurance company tells you.

Another insurance company trick is to forget to offer you a settlement. If you wait too long to get your settlement, then you may lose it completely.

It is always worth running your work injury case past an experienced Workers’ Compensation Attorney.

Questions about your settlement offer? Feel free to contact Illinois Workmans Compensation Attorney Dirk May at 309-827-4371.