Workers’ compensation insurance is designed to protect you when you suffer a job-related injury or illness, but too often, injured workers find themselves fighting insurance companies that delay, underpay, or deny valid claims.
At Pellegrini, Seeley, Ryan & Blakesley, P.C., we help you and your family fight for workers’ compensation settlements in Springfield. Our workers’ compensation attorneys bring more experience to these cases than any other law firm in Western Massachusetts. With nearly 70 years of legal experience, we put our knowledge, resources, and determination behind aggressively pursuing the compensation you are entitled to receive.
If you have a work-related injury or illness that requires medical treatment and prevents you from working, you may qualify for workers’ compensation benefits, and we could help you understand exactly what those benefits include. Nearly every employer in the state must carry workers’ compensation insurance, and you can file a claim as long as your medical condition is connected to your job. You do not need to prove that anyone is at fault.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents, a workers’ compensation claim may provide several types of benefits.
Medical benefits cover the cost of “reasonable and necessary” treatment related to your injury, including emergency care, doctor and hospital visits, and long-term services such as physical therapy or rehabilitation. Your employer may choose your first treating provider, but after that, you usually have the right to select your own doctor.
Workers’ compensation also provides disability benefits when your injury or illness keeps you from working. If you cannot work at all for at least five days while you heal but are expected to recover, you may receive temporary total disability (TTD), which pays 60 percent of your pre-injury wage for up to 156 weeks (three years). If you can work during your recovery or with a permanent partial disability but not at your full pre-injury capacity, you may qualify for temporary partial disability/total partial disability, which compensates part of your lost wages and is subject to a seven-year combined cap with TTD.
If your injury leaves you permanently and totally unable to perform any work, you may receive permanent total disability, which pays two-thirds of your pre-injury weekly wage for as long as you remain disabled. The state average weekly wage caps all disability benefits, and you may also qualify for a one-time lump-sum payment if you suffer permanent loss of function to a specific body part or severe scarring on your face, neck, or hands.
Workers’ compensation may also provide survivor benefits to the spouse and children of a worker who dies from a job-related injury or illness. These benefits include funeral and burial expenses, as well as compensation equal to 60 percent of the worker’s lost wages. Wage-replacement benefits for children continue until they turn 18 or are enrolled full-time in school, and benefits for spouses end if they remarry.
Our Springfield lawyers could advocate for a fair workers’ compensation settlement, so you receive the benefits you deserve.
As soon as your workplace injury occurs or you are diagnosed with a work-related condition, you should notify your employer and begin the claims process, because the insurance company has only 14 days from the date your employer files your claim to tell you whether it will pay or deny benefits. You should not accept a workers’ compensation settlement until you understand the full extent of your injuries and how they may affect your ability to work, especially because insurance companies often try to pay as little as possible. Their first offer may not cover your long-term needs if your condition turns out to be more serious than you initially realized.
Our Springfield attorneys could help you file your workers’ compensation claim, establish your right to recover benefits, and negotiate for the maximum possible settlement. If the insurance company denies your claim or refuses to pay what you are owed, we could fight for you on appeal and work to secure the benefits you deserve.
Workers’ compensation settlements in Springfield can be challenging to navigate, but we guide you through every stage of your claim and fight to secure the fair resolution you deserve. Our attorneys at Pellegrini, Seeley, Ryan & Blakesley, P.C. have a long record of delivering results, including multiple multi-million-dollar recoveries for injured workers.
Contact us today for a free consultation.
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