Maximizing Your Florida Workers’ Compensation Benefits

If you were recently injured while working, chances are that you are entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits. However, insurance companies use different strategies or methods to deny your claim or minimize the benefits you are entitled to receive.

At Berlin Law Firm, our team is familiar with all these tactics, and we know how to fight back. If you’ve been injured, we want to hear from you. Our team is aggressive, experienced, and proactive. Call today for a free consultation.

Here Is What You Need to Collect Payments

Several preconditions must exist for you to collect payments:

• Your employer must have a workers’ compensation insurance policy. In Florida, every employer with four or more employees is required to carry a plan. Construction companies must cover all workers, regardless of size. Special rules apply for temporary agricultural or seasonal workers, but you may be eligible for compensation whether you’re documented or undocumented. Please call to find out if you qualify.
• Rather than working as an independent contractor, you must be directly employed.
• The illness or work injuries you suffer must be directly linked to a workplace accident or have arisen due to the fulfillment of your work duties.
• You must notify your employer about the illness or injury within 30 days of the realization of harm and file your workers’ compensation claim within two years of this date.

According to Florida Statute 440.12(2), injured workers will receive a maximum of 100% of the statewide average weekly rate, rounded to the nearest dollar. This amount changes annually. As of January 1^st, 2023, the minimum is $20/week, and the maximum is $1,197/week—the exact amount you receive and the duration you receive it will depend upon your degree of impairment.

Maximizing Your Workers’ Comp Benefits

Though the Florida workers’ comp benefits system was established to protect workers, insurers aren’t in the business of paying out maximum compensation—and you may quickly find yourself in a situation where you aren’t receiving enough money to make ends meet. It’s worth contacting a dedicated workers’ comp attorney at our firm for a free consultation to review your case and help you explore the full range of benefits available.

Types of Benefits

Insurance exists so businesses can continue to operate without suffering irreparable financial harm and so you can recover without worrying about lost wages. Multiple types of benefits are often factored into a settlement amount. These benefits include:

Wage Loss Benefits

Wage loss benefits cover a percentage of your usual wages (often two-thirds of what you’d be paid if you were working). The award—and how long you receive it—will be based on the severity of your injuries, how they affect your ability to return to work, and Florida’s required minimum/maximum.

Medical Benefits

Medical coverage includes the cost of your treatment, including hospitalizations, surgeries, nursing care, medications, assistive devices like wheelchairs or walkers, rehabilitation sessions, therapies, and related transportation costs.

Vocational Rehabilitation

Vocational rehabilitation payments help people who cannot return to their former line of work due to permanent disability. As long as you are not too impaired to work another job, you can receive assistance in career counseling, job training, and placement services.

Death Benefits

If a person succumbs to injuries sustained in the workplace, a workers’ comp death benefit is paid to a surviving spouse, children, or other dependents. The amount should be enough to cover reasonable funeral and burial expenses and a sum to compensate for the loss of income.

Additional Benefits for Injured or Ill Florida Workers

As you may note, “pain and suffering” are absent from the list of Florida workers’ comp benefits. To seek these damages, you will need to file a civil lawsuit. While you cannot sue your employer directly, you may be able to file a lawsuit against a third party, like the property owner, an equipment manufacturer, a subcontractor, or a coworker.

Why Work with Berlin Law Firm

There are several important reasons you may benefit from an experienced workers’ comp attorney. Cases are sometimes denied altogether due to “incomplete paperwork,” missing a hearing, misspeaking to the insurance company, failure to seek proper and prompt medical attention, preexisting conditions, delayed onset illnesses, and other factors.

In other cases, your workers’ comp MMI (maximum medical improvement) may be improperly determined, leading to a premature suspension of benefits. In either case, appeals are possible—with the resources and advocacy of a dedicated and hardworking legal team on your side.

Berlin Law Firm Has the Experience You Need

The founder of Berlin Law Firm puts 30+ years of workers’ comp experience toward your case so that you can expect the best possible results. With offices in Tampa and Sarasota, we help injured employees seek maximum workers’ comp benefits across all jurisdictions in Florida. Though we are not a large firm, we offer personalized, compassionate customer service. Contact us for a free consultation.