Compensation for a Back Injury at Work: How to Prove Your Case

Introduction

Anyone who’s had a back injury at work or in an accident anywhere knows the dreadful pain can be so severe that it’s debilitating and can lead to abject despair.

You may incur many losses from a back injury at work, including wages, a normal lifestyle and physical restriction, as well as pain and suffering.

Making Worker’s Compensation claims can often be stressful, and proving the extent of your back injury and the losses you’ve incurred can add to your pain.

Table of Contents

How to Prove Your Workplace Back Injury

Document everything

Suppose you’ve injured your back at work and need to make a Workers’ Compensation claim. In that case, the first thing to remember is to “document everything”.

The more evidence you have, the better to help prove your case. If possible, get photographs of your injuries or your inability to stand or walk. Photograph the exact place your back injury occurred and write down exactly how it happened.

Get witness info

Also, anyone who suffers a back injury or other work related injuries should get witness names and addresses if possible.

As mentioned above, make sure you notify your employer that you have suffered an injury to your back at work. It is against the law for an employer to ignore or not notify their Workers Compensation insurance company of your back injury.

Follow professional advice and keep appointments

The next thing is to make sure you keep your doctor’s, physio’s or therapist’s appointments and follow their advice on treatments. Make sure they know our appointment for follow-up or treatment is for your compensation case and that they record your progress or lack thereof. Always take the advice of your medical professionals and lawyers.

Get the Best Professional Help

At PK Simpson, we take on all the stress of your back injury claim so you can relax. We know the right doctors who can properly assess your injury and level of impairment. We can help you get the proper treatment and ensure your workplace injury medical records are kept correctly for use in your claim.

Our expert lawyers can help you prove the extent of your back injury case to ensure you qualify for the maximum lump sum compensation and benefits you deserve.

How Do I Start My Workers’ Comp Back Injury Claim?

If you’ve suffered a back injury while at work, the first steps are seeking medical treatment and reporting the accident or incident to your employer.

Then call PK Simpson expert personal injury lawyers to help you get your compensation claims process started.

There are time limits, so the sooner you do this, the better. Make sure your doctor is aware that you have injured your back at work so he can include it in your medical records.

Be aware that under Workers’ Compensation Legislation, your employer has certain obligations. Under section 275 of the NSW Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998, your employer’s relevant Insurer must begin medical expenses and weekly benefits payments within seven days once you’ve lodged a Workers’ Compensation claim.

Detailed Information on Back Injury Claims

If you’ve sustained an injury to your back at work, your work so you can make Workers’ Compensation claims.

• Provide your employer with a NSW State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) Certificate of Capacity showing you are not fit or are partially not fit to work due to your back injury. (SIRA has taken over from ‘WorkCover’, the previous body responsible for Workers Compensation in NSW).
• Your employer is legally obliged to notify the Workers Compensation Insurer within 48 hours of your claim and provide a copy of the SIRA Certificate of Capacity. Once the Insurer is notified, it is required to commence payments within seven days.

Read More: Your Guide to Back Injury Compensation

Your Workers’ Compensation Payments and Benefits

Your entitlements to Workers Compensation cam include the following:

• Weekly payments as compensation for total or partial incapacity to work
• Expenses for medical and hospital treatments that are reasonably necessary
• Lump-sum Workers’ Compensation for a certain level of impairment
• Funeral expenses and claims for dependency in the event of a worker’s death

The payments you will receive if you are an injured worker include:

• Weekly compensation for lost wages.
• Your medical expenses due to your back injury of up to $7,500.

Does the Insurer Automatically Pay?

The Insurer can notify you in writing within seven days if they have a “reasonable excuse” to withhold any provisional liability payments to you. The definition of a reasonable excuse is as follows:

• The Insurer can withhold payments if they have insufficient information about your back injury or other medical condition.
• You, as the injured party, are not an employee of the company they have insured.
• You, as the injured party, refused to release information about your back injury.
• Your back injury is not related to your job.
• The Insurer received notification of your back injury two months or more after it happened.

Once the Insurer has written to you and provided a reasonable excuse, they will have another 21 days in which to decide whether to accept or reject your compensation claim.

When Insurers Break Compensation Law

Insurance companies providing Workers’ Compensation cover to employers all too often ignore notifications of workplace injuries despite receiving SIRA Certificate of Capacity information and fail to decide on liability.

These insurers refuse to pay injured workers the medical expenses and weekly compensation payments they’re entitled to receive under the Legislation. Instead, they will begin their own investigations into a claim and organise medical examinations by the doctors of their choice.

If you find yourself in this situation, you’re one step ahead of the insurers if you have our team of PK Simpson professional compensation lawyers on your side. The law is apparent and states that insurers must start providing provisional payments to injured workers within seven days of notification. Fines may be issued to offending Insurers.

What is a Lump Sum Workers Compensation Payment?

Workers Compensation insurance companies are not known for letting injured workers know that they can claim lump sum payments for permanent impairment. But should you have sustained a permanent back injury at work, you could be eligible to receive thousands of dollars in lump sum Workers’ Compensation.

A permanent injury is a Whole Person Impairment (WPI) if doctors believe it is not likely to change during the ensuing 12 months. You may receive a lump-sum payment of Workers’ Compensation for your back injury if it is classified as a permanent impairment. But this is not in place of medical expenses and weekly benefits of compensation.

What is a Workers Compensation Back Injury Worth?

An independent medical examiner will use guidelines established by SIRA to assess your level of WHI due to your workplace back injury. The examiner will determine your eligibility to receive a lump sum compensation payment for permanent impairment.

Your back injury claim will go through the Personal Injury Commission of NSW. Your assessment must show you have an impairment of greater than 10 per cent WPI to qualify and be equal to or more than 15 per cent for psychological injuries.

How Much Lump Sum Compensation Should I Receive?

Typically, lump-sum payments for WPI percentages in Workers’ Compensation, whether for a back or other injury, will be in the range of $30,000 to $60,000. Making a WID or common law claim after this is where much larger money can be awarded.

However, it can be more than that, depending on the significance of your back injury. To claim lump-sum Workers’ Compensation for your WPI back injury, you will need a solicitor who is an accredited personal injury law specialist.

Our firm, PK Simpson Injury Compensation Lawyers, has multiple offices in New South Wales, including Sydney, Liverpool, Parramatta, Campbelltown, Newcastle, Tamworth and Wollongong.

For legal help and advice that will bring you the workplace back injury compensation results you’re seeking, get in touch with our NSW lawyers today on 1300 411 596 or email enquiries@pksimpson.com.au to find out about our no win no fee policy.

Reference

https://www.sira.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/325579/SIRA08719-Certificate-of-capacity-certificate-of-fitness-for-work.pdf