Workers’ compensation insurance claims occur when a worker is injured on the job. Generally speaking, a worker injured on the job by a co-worker or by the negligence of his own employer will be limited to making a workers’ compensation claim. In other words, he is permitted to make a workers’ compensation claim, but is not permitted to make a third-party claim directly against the company or the co-worker that caused the injury. In Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia there are many excellent attorneys that are experts at pure workers’ compensation claims. If you CONTACT US with such a claim, we’ll point you towards the right lawyer. However, we won’t take your case.

On the other hand, some workers compensation claims are accompanied by third-party claims. For example, a driver is employed as a delivery person for a bakery. While he is out on the highway making a delivery, he is injured in a car accident. The car accident is caused by another driver. In that case, the deliveryman probably has both a workers’ compensation claim and a third-party claim against the other driver.

Generally speaking, workers’ compensation insurance will reimburse the deliveryman for a portion of his lost wages and will cover his medical bills. If the deliveryman is permanently injured, the workers’ compensation insurance may also pay him for the permanency. However, if the worker then settles his claim against the third-party defendant, the workers’ compensation insurer has a lien against the third-party recovery.

If you’ve been injured on the job, and you think that the injury was due to the negligence of someone other than your employer or co-worker, you need an attorney that understands workers’ compensation cases and traditional personal injury cases. For help, please CONTACT US.