THE HAWK EYE THE LEGAL ADVANTAGE "ANSWERS TO YOUR LEGAL QUESTIONS"
March 22, 2009 Question: Question:
How do I know if the
insurance company is being
fair with respect to what they
are paying me on my
Workers’ Compensation Claim?
Answer: The amount and type of
Workers’ Compensation
benefits an injured employee
is entitled to receive can be a
very complicated matter.
What is represented as fair
by the Workers’
Compensation insurance
company may not be fair at
all. I have repeatedly spoken
with injured workers who
believed they were being
treated fairly to only later
determine that they were
significantly underpaid by
the Workers’ Compensation
insurance carrier.
A few of the ways employees
are taken advantage of by
insurance companies
include:
1. Being paid a low
Workers’ Compensation rate;
2. Failing to be paid for
mileage expense associated
with traveling to and from
doctors; and
3. Failing to pay the
employee benefits when they
have a permanent injury.
It is important for employees
to be educated and have
some knowledge of the
system when dealing with
work injuries.
A couple of
websites that are helpful in
this regard would be:
www.iowaworkforce.org/wc/
as well as the website for
Pothitakis Law Firm, P.C.,
which www.pothitakislaw.com
where a significant amount
of educational materials are
available. Probably the best
option for an injured worker
to make sure they are being
treated fairly would be to
talk to an experienced
attorney who handles
Workers’ Compensation
claims in the area. Most of
them, similar to Pothitakis
Law Firm, P.C., provide free
initial consultations.
Over the past several months, Pothitakis Law Firm, P.C., has expanded its Burlington office in order
to accommodate the demand of the firm’s busy and expanding practice. A large conference room and an
additional paralegal office have been added.
Our caseload, as well as the increased
complexity of our cases, has prompted the
need for additional space.
Seven years ago when Pothitakis Law
Firm, P.C., opened with one lawyer and
one staff member, our exponential growth
was not anticipated or expected. Each year,
we have seen an increase in the number
of clients who have sought our assistance.
We attribute this to our hard work and effort,
as well as our clients’ willingness to refer
other injured parties
THE HAWK EYE THE LEGAL ADVANTAGE "ANSWERS TO YOUR LEGAL QUESTIONS"
February 15, 2009 Question: I have been off of work receiving weekly Workers’ Compensation benefits. How do I know if the amount I am receiving is correct?
The determination of how
much you should receive
when you are off of work
can be very complicated.
The law sets out many
different ways that the
benefit should be calculated.
I believe that a number of
insurance companies try to
pick the calculation that
results in the lowest benefit.
It is not uncommon for a
Workers’ Compensation
insurance carrier to pay
benefits at low or incorrect
rate.
As a general rule, the weekly
benefit ends up being about
two-thirds of an employee’s
average gross wage. The
basic goal is to approximate,
to some degree, the takehome
pay of an employee.
Workers’ Compensation
benefits are not taxed.
The error, whether
intentional or unintentional,
by insurance companies is
that they include weeks
where the employee was on
vacation, sick, or did not
work his or her regular
hours to determine the
average gross pay.
The computation of the rate
is not only important for the
benefits that are paid on a
weekly basis, but for those
benefits that are owed if the
injury turns out to be
permanent as the benefits
for a permanency are
directly tied to the
employee’s Workers’
Compensation rate.
It is very important for you
to have your rate reviewed
by an experienced Workers’
Compensation insurance
attorney.
THE HAWK EYE THE LEGAL ADVANTAGE "ANSWERS TO YOUR LEGAL QUESTIONS"
February 1, 2009 Question: What benefits am I entitled to receive if I sustain an injury at work?
If you are injured at work,
you essentially are entitled
to three different types of
benefits: Medical Benefits,
Wage Replacement Benefits
and Permanency Benefits.
1. The first type of benefits
is that the employer and
insurance carrier have to pay
for the medical care that you
need as a result of your
injury. The employer has
the right to choose your
physician, but they are
required to pay for your
medical care. In addition,
they should pay you the cost
of gas and use of your
vehicle to get you to and
from your doctor (mileage
expense).
2. The second benefit you
are entitled to is wage
replacement benefits if you
have to be off work as a
result of your injury. Each
week that you are off of
work as a result of your
work injury, you are entitled
to receive a check which
approximates your takehome
pay. The reason it“approximates” your take
home pay is because it is
non-taxable.
3.The third benefit you are
entitled to receive is what is
called permanent partial
disability benefits. These are
benefits that are paid based
upon the severity of your
injury and, in some cases,
based upon how it affects
your earnings in the future.
This is the benefit that is
typically discussed for
purposes of a settlement
of a Workers’ Compensation
claim.
There are other benefits that
you are entitled to if you are
injured at work and an
experienced Workers’
Compensation lawyer can
provide you guidance
concerning those additional
benefits.
THE HAWK EYE THE LEGAL ADVANTAGE "ANSWERS TO YOUR LEGAL QUESTIONS"
November 30, 2008Question: If I sustain an injury while
working, who decides what
doctor I have to go to?
Under the Iowa Workers’
Compensation laws, for an
injury that is accepted by
your employer as work
related, the employer and
Workers’ Compensation
insurance carrier get to
choose your doctor. Their
ability to choose your doc
tor is not without limitation.
The medical care that the
employer chooses for you
must be reasonable, must be
offered promptly, and be
reasonably suited to treat
the injury without undue
inconvenience to you.
In
situations where the
employer or insurance car
rier pick physicians who are
either not qualified or who
are located great distances
from the employee’s home,
the employee may be able
to force the employer and
insurance carrier to provide
them care with a different
physician.
Another situation in which
employees can choose a
doctor is when, under the
law, an employee has the
right to a second opinion.
An employee is entitled to
the second opinion at the
insurance carrier’s expense
when 1) the w.c. claim is
accepted; 2) the insurance
carrier’s doctor has issued
an impairment rating; and
3) the claimant believes the
impairment rating is too
low.
THE HAWK EYE THE LEGAL ADVANTAGE "ANSWERS TO YOUR LEGAL QUESTIONS"
November 23, 2008Question: What deadlines do
I have to meet in order to
pursue a Workers’
Compensation claim?
Answer: There are essentially
two deadlines that you have to
comply with in order to pursue
a Workers’ Compensation claim
in Iowa. The first deadline is
that the employee is required to
report the injury to the
employer within 90 days of the
date of the injury. If the
employer has actual knowledge
of the injury, that satisfies the
90-day requirement.
However,
an employee should provide
formal notice even if they
believe the employer has actual
notice to avoid a situation
where an employer later denies
that they knew about the injury.
The second deadline that an
employee has to meet is that
they would have to file their
Workers’ Compensation
petition within two years of the
date of the injury to pursue the
claim formally before the Iowa
Workers’ Compensation
Commissioner. The two-year
deadline (statute of limitations)
can be extended if the
employee receives weekly
Workers’ Compensation
benefits. In that situation, the
deadline is extended to three
years from the date that the last
weekly Workers’ Compensation
benefit check was received.
There are other situations in
which the deadline can be
extended, for example, when
an employee does not realize
that they were injured or does
not discover the seriousness of
their injury until a later date.
Because of the time deadlines,
it is important for an employee
to provide notice to their
employer immediately upon
being injured and to consult
with an experienced Workers’
Compensation attorney.
Burlington & Keokuk, Iowa Attorney practicing in Iowa primarily in Workers' Compensation & Personal Injury. Lawyers at the Pothitakis Law Firm, P. C. are dedicated to serve their clients in Iowa, including the cities of Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Fort Madison, Iowa City, Keokuk, Mount Pleasant, Muscatine, Ottumwa, Washington and Wapello, and the communities that make up Des Moines, Henry, Lee, Linn, Louisa, Muscatine, Scott, Washington and Wapello counties.
