Specific Loss Benefits

What are Specific Loss Benefits?

Specific Loss Benefits are a kind of worker’s compensation benefit. As outlined in the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, they are considered when a worker loses a particular bodily function or body part from a work-related injury or disease. These benefits compensate for both the loss itself and any other disability benefits that the worker may receive.

Specific loss benefits are considered only under extreme circumstances. The loss of the bodily function or part must be permanent in nature, and can even include amputation. When a claim for specific loss benefits is filed, the injured party must only have proof that they have suffered a permanent loss. They do not need to prove any monetary loss. In Pennsylvania, the level of benefits a person may be eligible for is calculated based on a predetermined number of weeks of compensation for each specific loss. For instance, loss of a thumb constitutes two-thirds of wages during one hundred weeks, loss of a hand constitutes two-thirds of wages over three hundred thirty-five weeks, and loss of vision in one eye constitutes two-thirds of wages over two hundred seventy-five weeks.

Because proof of monetary loss is not necessary to receive specific loss benefits, it is important that an injured party collects the proper medical information to prove the permanence and severity of their injuries. In certain circumstances, an injured party can receive both specific loss benefits and wage loss benefits. They are both ways that the legal system tries long-term health and well-being of injured parties.