If the insurance company is delaying the payment, then you should contact your St. Louis workers compensation lawyer as soon as possible.
Picture this: you injured your leg while performing work duties and the doctor recommended that you take some time off work to recover. You filed a claim with the help of a St. Louis work injury lawyer and it got approved. Now you may wonder, how often should I get my check and how much will I receive?
What Does the Law Say?
According to the Workers Compensation Act, you should receive your benefits at the same frequency as your normal wage. So, if your employer used to pay you weekly, then you should receive the benefits weekly too.
What If the Payments Are Late
Insurance companies are required by law to pay benefits to workers who’ve filed for compensation and got their claims approved. However, delays can still happen.
If the insurance company is delaying the payment, then you should contact your St. Louis workers compensation lawyer as soon as possible. The insurance adjuster will probably try to come up with an excuse for dragging their feet, but the reality is that they are breaking the law. Your lawyer can file a penalty petition, prompting the insurance company to speed up the process and award you the benefits you are entitled to.
Keep in mind that if you are working and receiving partial workers compensation benefits at the same time, then you should keep your pay stubs. The insurance company will postpone making any payments until it has all your wage information, so that may be a reason for the delay. A lawyer can help you figure out the problem and get those checks through the mail as soon as possible.
How Much Should I Expect to Get?
It’s difficult to give a straight answer to this question as the value of your workers’ compensation claim will depend on various factors, such as the nature and severity of your injury.
- Temporary Total Disability: If you can’t perform any work duties until you recover from your injury, then you will receive Temporary Total Disability (TTD) benefits. You will get ⅔ from your gross wage, but no less than $40 and no more than $911.27 weekly.
- Temporary Partial Disability: If you can work, but not at the same capacity, then you are entitled to Temporary Partial Disability (TPD.) You will get ⅔ of the difference between your weekly wage before the injury and after the injury.
- Permanent Total Disability: If you can no longer work after your injury, then you are entitled to Permanent Total Disability (PTD) benefits, which are ⅔ of your regular weekly wage. PTDs can be paid for your entire lifetime or for as long as you are totally disabled.
Contact a St. Louis Work Injury Lawyer
If you have been injured at work and have any questions concerning your case, call the Law Office of James M. Hoffmann at (314) 361-4300 or fill out our online contact form. When we take your case, we make recovering benefits for you our priority, and we put decades of experience, a proven record of success and a client-focused approach behind your workers’ compensation case.
At the Law Office of James M. Hoffmann, our attorneys will work with you, regardless of where you are in the process. Attorney James M. Hoffmann has spent a majority of his more than 25-year legal career dedicated to protecting the rights of injured workers.