Workman's Comp Question?

Does anyone know how long it takes to settle with a Workman's Comp insurance company if you have an attorney?

It's pretty cut and dried: A bulldozer blade fell on my husband's foot, breaking one toe and severely damaging another.
Additional Details
Workman's Comp was going to pay my husband $218.50 a week for each week he was out of work. My husband normally brings home $600.00 after taxes each week. This is why we hired an attorney because somebody was trying to screw us. We're not expecting to get rich off of his toe, we just want to be where we would be had the injury not happened. The injury was not his fault. Someone else was operating the bulldozer. And just for the record, the blade on the bulldozer weighs around 3-4 thousand pounds, not counting the arms that hold it up which are about 1500 pounds themselves. Imagine that falling across your foot. My husbands big toe may have to be amputated which would mean that he would have to learn to walk again. And WC was going to pay us $218.50.

Workers Comp is regulated by state so it's going to depend in part on what your particular state allows as far as permanent disability.

You don't get a "settlement" per se, in comp cases. Every state has their own method of figuring out permanent disability. It's going to depend on what his permanent disability is. e.g., is he permanently totally disabled? Can he return to his regular job? Does he have a partial disability?

If he has been released from medical treatment, the doctor should have issued a final report to the Comp carrier. You don't get "pain and suffering" in Comp cases. You basically get whatever the state allows after the final doctors evaluation as far as permanent disability. You also can get future medical, if needed.

Since you have an attorney, you should probably be asking him this question. That's what you're paying him a third of any permanent disability settlement you would have received.

Additional info based on your additional info:

You have not said what state you are in but normally temporary disability is based on a percentage of your average monthly (or weekly) wage and is subject to a maximum. How much extra was the attorney able to get for you per week?

Having said that, it is also easy to appeal temporary partial disability in all the states that I know of and you don't need an attorney to do that. You just file an appeal and show up with copies of your pay stubs showing that you earned more than they are paying you.

What you earn per week is still not what you are going to get paid. Example, in Arizona, you get 66 2/3% of your wage up to a maximum of $560 per week so if your husband was earning over $560 a week, he wouldn't get that anyway. At least not in Arizona. He would get 66 2/3% of $560. All other states that I know of have maximums too.

Since you've also stated that your husbands big toe might have to be amputated, then you are a LONG way from any permanent disability settlement. I'll also point out here that permanent disability is also regulated by state and it is going to depend entirely on what his percentage of disability is once he is discharged from medical treatment. You're a long way from any settlement at this point. And now you get to pay the attorney a percentage of any permanent disability settlement he would have gotten by law anyway. You basically screwed yourselves out of a chunk of the money.

As others have asked...why do you even have an attorney if this is so easy?

You should only get an attorney if you feel the settlement offer from the work comp insurance company wasn't fair...

For this kind of stuff if you had a friend who was an attorney and could handle it that would be ideal, otherwise if you have a friend who is an attorney ask them for a referrel to someone they believe will get this done quickly and fairly.

Why would you have an attorney if it's cut and dried? In some states, the insurance company has to pay the attorney; but in others, they get a cut of your payout. So that bites you in the rear - they'll settle the same way either way, you just get less, and it takes longer.

The settlement isn't going to happen until the injury is as healed as it's going to get, and the amount of permanent disability is evaluated. Depending on the type of injury, that can be six months to years. Your hubby's injury is pretty simple, so you'll probably know the extent of permanent disability pretty early - and it's fully possible that he won't be permanently disabled, which would leave nothing to settle.

Getting the lawyer involved can add 6 months to a year to the settlement time. If a judge has to sign off on everything (ie, it's contested between you and the insurance company), add another six months, just for scheduling purposes.

Depends on how much money your lawyer needs to finance his summer home.

Lawyers have a nasty habit of dragging these things out so they can make more money. They do bill by the hour you know.

The only people to "win" in court cases are ATTORNEYS.

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