Filing For Worker's Compensation? Know What Damages Will And Won't Be Paid For

Many people know that workers' compensation helps pay for the damages that you sustained due to an injury at work.  You may be wondering what that really means, and what type of damages you can expect to receive compensation for.  Here is what you need to know.

Pain & Suffering

The purpose of workers' compensation laws is to make it easy for someone to receive compensation for work-related accidents.  The compromise to this is that some damages are not paid for.  One of these damages is pain and suffering, which is available to those injured and filing a personal injury lawsuit.  With the exception of some extreme circumstances, do not expect to receive any compensation for pain and suffering when making a workers' compensation claim.

A Secondary Condition

Your claim is not limited to just the injury that happened to you while working.  There are secondary conditions that can result from your original injury, which will be considered in a workers' compensation claim. This includes if you have become depressed as a result of your injury, or developed a sleeping disorder because of it. 

Be aware that there are states that do not recognize secondary conditions in workers' compensation cases, so you may be out of luck. 

Lost Wages

Chances are that you'll be missing a significant amount of time from work, either because of the original injury or visiting doctors.  This time that you are unable to work is considered as lost wages, and you can receive compensation for it.

Travel Costs

There can be many additional costs that sneak up on you when it comes to treating an injury. One of those can be travel costs. You may be making a lot of trips to the doctor to get your injury looked at, or need to travel a considerable distance for physical therapy to treat your injury. It's possible for these things to be compensated in your claim, since they are additional costs out of pocket that you wouldn't be paying otherwise. 

Once again, some states do not recognize travel related expenses, while others have limitations on what is included.  You may be lucky and be able to have tolls, gas, and even lodging covered as part of your workers' compensation claim. 

The best way to navigate all of your expenses is to have a lawyer like Freedman, Wagner, Tabakman & Weiss handle your case.  Having worked similar cases like yours in the past, they know your state laws and know what to look for when it comes to items to be reimbursed for.

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