No Win No Fee Personal Injury Lawyers explain how not bringing a Workers’ Compensation claim can result in the loss of lump sum compensation. Gold Coast & Brisbane Experts in Workplace Injury Claims, servicing all Queensland.
Did you know that if you suffer an injury at work, resulting in a degree of permanent impairment (DPI), you have a right to statutory lump sum compensation?
Explaining Degree of Permanent Impairment (DPI) in Workplace Injury Claims
You’re considered to have sustained DPI where you have ongoing symptomatology from your work injury which impairs your ability to undertake your every living activities. DPI in work injury claims is assessed as a percentage under the Guide for Evaluating Permanent Impairment also known as GEPI.
After your work injury stabilises, if you’re injury is assessed by a GEPI trained medical expert as resulting in more than 0% DPI, then you will be entitled to a lump sum payment of compensation. You will have this entitlement no matter who was at fault for your work injury, as long as your injury was sustained in the course of your work, on your way to or from work or during a work break. It is called “statutory lump sum compensation”, because your entitlement to such compensation is pursuant to legislation, namely, the Workers’ Compensation & Rehabilitation Act 2003.
For every 1% of DPI, you are entitled to approximately $3,000. For example, if you were to suffer a fractured arm in the course of your work, travelling to or from work or during a work break, and your injury leaves you with ongoing pain and restriction with your everyday living activities (ie. loss of ability to lift and grip items, loss of power in the injured arm, pain undertaking certain movements and activities etc.) then you may be assessed as suffering a DPI of say 5% because of your work injury. This would equate to a lump sum compensation amount of around $15,000.
If You Didn’t Bring a Workers’ Compensation Claim, You Have No Entitlement to Lump Sum Compensation
However, if you suffer an injury at work, travelling to or from work or during a work break, and you don’t bring a workers’ compensation claim for the injury, even though you are left with ongoing problems because of your injury, you will not have any entitlement to any statutory compensation payment for any degree of permanent impairment you suffer because of the work injury. To have any such entitlement you must have brought a workers’ compensation claim for the work injury.
You will however, still have entitlement to bring a Common Law Claim for Damages for your work injury, AS LONG AS your work injury was caused by the negligence or wrongful actions of your employer or a co-worker. But where there was no negligent or wrongful action by your employer or a co-worker that caused your work injury, then you don’t have a valid Common Law Claim to pursue, and you will have no right to any compensation for the ongoing symptomatology and restriction you suffer from your work injury.
You’ve 6 months from the date of your work injury or having become aware of it, in which to bring a workers’ compensation claim. If you miss this time period, you can seek waiver of it, but you will need a very good reason for your delay to be successful in such application.
You Will Still Be Entitled to a Common Law Claim, If You Have One – Speak to No Win No Fee Personal Injury Lawyers for Advice
In most cases of work injury, the injured worker will have a valid Common Law Claim to pursue as the majority of injuries sustained at work result from unsafe work systems or the negligence of a co-worker. However, where this is not the case, the only means of compensation for the worker is via statutory lump sum compensation. If the worker has not brought a workers compensation claim, then they will have no right to compensation at all for their work injury. It’s therefore advisable for anyone injured in the course of their work, travelling to or from work or during a work break, to bring a workers’ compensation claim, even if they don’t require time off for their injury.
WARNING: It is very important that you DO NOT ACCEPT ANY LUMP SUM STATUTORY PAYMENT WITHOUT FIRST SEEKING LEGAL ADVICE. In cases of work injury where the DPI is assessed at less than 20%, a worker must make a choice between taking the Statutory Lump Sum amount and pursuing a Common Law Claim – they cannot do both. And the decision, once made, is irrevocable. To learn more about statutory lump sum offers and how the DPI process works, go to our webpages: Lump Sum Statutory Offers & Notices of Assessment in Work Injury Claims.
If you lose your right to bring a Common Law Claim, you will be missing out on significant compensation. The law of work injury claims is a complex area of law, involving a maze of legislative procedure that must be complied with to ensure your entitlement to compensation. You need expert Workplace Injury Lawyers to ensure your claim is protected and you are fully and properly compensated for your work injury.
No Win No Fee Personal Injury Lawyers are Queensland Workplace Injury Lawyers – Experts in Work Injury Claims
If you’ve sustained a work injury, contact us at No Win No Fee Personal Injury Lawyers. We are experts in workplace injury claims and can provide you with the advice you need to achieve all your compensation entitlements. We provide our services on a No Win No Fee basis, with no upfront costs, to all Queensland and we have offices in both Brisbane city and in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast. To learn more about No Win No Fee Personal Injury Lawyers and our experience and expertise in the are of work injury claims, go to our webpage, “About Us” and you can also read reviews former clients at our webpage “Reviews & Testimonials”.
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You can contact us about your case by calling us on 1300 388 383, by chatting to us via our LiveChat service or by submitting your enquiry via one of our FREE Instant Claim Appraisal forms on our website. We are available to you 24 hours a day and all enquiries are FREE of charge, completely confidential and without any obligation.