How Much Permanent Disability Can You Receive in Your Work Comp Case?

How Much Permanent Disability Can You Receive in Your Work Comp Case?

Hi everyone! Dustin here from lawatyourside.com.

Another common question we get is how much permanent disability am I entitled to?

So remember temporary disability is after you are injured, you're treating, eventually you reach a plateau, and what that plateau means is you've gotten as good as you're going to get at least for the next year, meaning any further treatment is not going to help you that much either way, one way or another you reach this plateau.

So let's say, you were 100% before you started working, you got injured, you dropped to let's say 50%, you got some treatment and you got better, and now you're at 75%. That gap, the 100% and 75%, that's 25% gap, that's basically your permanent disability amount. Now, that doesn't mean you can't work forever anymore. It just means you're going to have some permanent disability according to the doctors that will affect your ability to work or affect your activities of daily living and what not.

So, how much are you entitled to receive? What happens is, the doctor will evaluate you and eventually issue what's called a permanent and stationary report. So after your treatment is done, they issue a final report saying, "Here's what your permanent disability is," and they'll give a certain percentage on each part of body that has a permanent disability. So it might be your lower back has 7%, your shoulder has 5%, your knees have 3% each, something like, and what happens is you take those numbers, you put them into a complex formula, and it spits out a rating string that equates to a permanent disability amount, and that percentage will equal a certain amount in the workers' compensation system. So that’s how much you're entitled to.

Now, once that report issues, generally the insurance company can start paying out permanent disability to you. Now, they don't pay that full amount right away but they may pay at bi-monthly increments. So every two weeks, you'll get a check. It varies on how much you were making and what not, but generally, it's about $400 plus or minus, but that’s generally how much permanent disability you'll get per week. It also depends on the date of injury in terms of how much you would get. So those are some things to keep in mind in terms of how much permanent disability you're entitled to.

It's very complex to calculate on your own. It's something that requires a lot of formulas. It's all doable in an online workers' compensation system formula. They have a calculator online, but you really got to know how to read the report, input it all online, and then it spits out your permanent disability amount and how much you would be entitled to. Now, if the insurance company does start paying you, if you're getting checks of permanent disability, generally those are advances on your case.

So let's say, your permanent disability amount comes out to $40,000. Okay, let's just say that. So you'll be entitled to $40,000 of permanent disability; if they start paying you those bi-monthly checks of about 400 or so, those will come out. So you imagine this big balloon at the end of your case, the money you're going to get, those checks that are coming out are going to be deducted once your case settles or once your case resolves. So that's something to keep in mind as well.
If you want further assistance with your work-related injury or you want to talk to a lawyer and get your questions answered or you want us to represent you in your workers' compensation case, please feel free to give us a call at the number below or click the link below and fill out the submission form, and we will do our best and work our hardest to ensure that we give you all the benefits that you are entitled to under the law. And we hope you have a smooth, efficient case that runs through so you can get back to your healthiest that you can be and also receive all the benefits that you're entitled to. Thanks so much.