Top 5 Mistakes Injured Australia Workers Need to Avoid

There are insurance companies constantly wanting and trying to cheat hardworking Australians from receiving full compensation for their injuries. They will pull all sorts of tricks and keep secrets that they do not want injured workers to know about. You will get an only get to know from them what they want you to know, and that is the least amount of money you would get.

Making sure you receive fair compensation involves having to arm yourself with the appropriate knowledge about the rights and entitlements given to you under the Worker’s compensation legislation. It is important, right off the bat, that you choose one of the better workers compensation lawyers Perth to be able to represent you in your claim.

Without a lawyer, there are many ways things can go wrong, and touched upon in this article are mistakes that you should definitely avoid making when you are injured.

1. The compensation claim

From the moment you make a worker’s compensation claim, the insurer must initiate provisional payments of weekly benefits and medical expenses within 7 days, which is stated under section 275 of the Workplace Injury Management and Worker’s Compensation Act 1988.

The claim is made by informing your employer that you have been injured during the course of the employment, and providing your employer with a WorkCover Certificate that deems you partially unfit or completely unfit to carry out professional responsibilities. you will need to notify your insurer within 48 hours that a claim for worker’s compensation has been filed and provide them with a copy of the WorkCover Certificate of Capacity.

What often happens is that the work compensation insurer simply ignores these claims and makes no decisions as far as liability is concerned. They refuse to commence any payments of weekly compensations and do not pay medical expenses. A lot of people do not know this, but as this is an offense under the act, the insurer can be fined by WorkCover.

Your options in these cases are to contact any of the workers compensation lawyers near me or the WorkCover Authority.

2. Returning to work

Regardless of the recovery time, you obviously cannot go back to doing your exact duties before your injury. Chances are you want to start work as soon as possible but still have certain health restrictions. Luckily for you, under section 49 of the Work Place Injury Management Worker’s Compensation Act 1988, your employer is obliged to give you suitable work based on your recovery. They are meant to give you similar work to that which you were doing at the time of the accident, and not anything demeaning, which ends up happening often. If your employer denies giving you suitable employment, they are obligated to a fine of up to $10,000.

3. Permanent injury

Sustaining a permanent injury in the workplace actually makes you entitled to lump-sum compensation. A permanent injury is defined as an impairment that is unlikely to change within the course of 12 months. A lot of workers do not know this because worker’s compensation insurers never tell them this. This lump sum comes as an addition to your weekly benefits of compensation and medical expenses, and obtaining the lump sum does not equate to losing your weekly compensation. Your impairment must, of course, be determined by an independent medical examiner that can assess your ‘percentage’ of Whole Person Impairment. Obtaining more than 10% means you are eligible for compensation for permanent injury.

4. Employer negligence

A worker’s compensation insurer will most definitely never tell you that you have the right to sue your employer if your injury was sustained because of employer negligence. The worker’s compensation scheme is quintessentially a ‘no-fault’ scheme, where you are entitled to your payments of weekly compensation, medical bill payments and lump sum payment, where you need not prove your employer was negligent. However, the Worker’s Compensation Act does allow you to sue the insurer on the case of negligence and receive Common Law Damages (which is monetary compensation.) If you believe your injury was the result of negligence, then you should contact workers compensation lawyers Perth WA to see how best to progress with the case.

5. Trusting the face value

Finally, the biggest mistake a lot of workers make is taking worker’s compensation insurer’s words at face value instead of looking into it further. Insurers will discourage you from hiring a car accident lawyer, and might even lie about your rights and entitlements. Being injured is a stressful time, and because of the limited amount of time you have to file a claim, you would probably prefer getting it over and done with as soon as possible.

A lawyer is better suited to explain your rights and entitlements, and how you can get the most out of compensation like this. So, if you are ever entangled in such situations, get in touch with the best workers compensation lawyers Perth WA to get rid of them effectively.