If you are injured on the job, you are not filing a lawsuit, you are making a claim for benefits. Here are the benefits you can get starting with the three most common:
Medical- No co-pays, no out of pocket expenses, no deductible for any reasonable and related medical care for your work injury. You choose your own doctor and the insurance company or employer has no right to talk directly to your doctor’s office other than to ask for copies of records or bills.
Temporary total disability (TTD)- This is 2/3 of your average weekly wage, tax free, for the time that you are authorized off work for a work injury or have restrictions that your employer can’t accommodate. There is no limit to the amount of time you can receive TTD.
Permanent partial disability (PPD)– When you are all better or as good as you can get, you are entitled to pursue a settlement or go to a trial to get a PPD award from an Arbitrator. The amount you are entitled to depends on the extent of your injury as well as your earnings before you were hurt.
Temporary partial disability (TPD)- Similar to TTD, but this is for people who can return to work, but only on a part-time basis. You get TPD benefits to make up the difference.
Section 19(h) rights- By going to trial, if you win you will be able to receive medical treatment that relates to the work injury for the rest of your life. This as referred to as Section 19(h) rights.
Travel expenses– While you typically don’t get paid for having to go to your doctor, you should be compensated for the mileage between your house and any doctor that the insurance company chooses to send you to.
Vocational rehabilitation– If your employer can not accommodate permanent restrictions that you have, you are entitled, at their expense, for a job counselor to help you search for new work within your restrictions. In fact, once you are off work for 120 days the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act requires your employer to begin to develop a plan to return you to work. This plan almost never happens and is probably the most overlooked law on the work comp books.
Maintenance- This is similar to TTD benefits. You get this when you are undergoing vocational rehabilitation. As long as you are cooperating with vocational rehabilitation then maintenance benefits should continue. There is no time limit for how long you can receive these benefits.
Death benefits- If an injured worker dies from a work related accident and leaves either a spouse or a dependent then those survivors are eligible for death benefits which can be as high as the TTD rate. The benefits can continue for up to 20 years and there is a minimum of $500,000.00 that should be paid. In addition there is an $8,000.00 benefit for burial expenses.
Advances- If you are ready for trial and the insurance company isn’t, you do not have to suffer. If they are not paying you for your time off work your attorney can ask for a PPD advance. This often happens in cases where everyone agrees that money will be owed at the end of the case, but there is a dispute as to whether the worker should be authorized off work or not. It’s not uncommon for the insurance company to "advance" a few thousand dollars up front and then when the case is resolved take a credit for that. In other words if they advance $3,000 now, if a year from now the case settles for $20,000.00 you will only get $17,000.00 in new money. The advance is always tax free and there is no interest applied to that so essentially the injured worker gets more money in the end.
We are workers’ compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys. Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.
