Our Wilkes-Barre Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Can Help You With Your Claim
If you have been injured in a work-related accident in Wilkes-Barre, you may be entitled to collect workers’ compensation for your medical bills and wage loss benefits for time missed from work for recovery, hospital stays doctor visits, and physical therapy.
Workers’ compensation benefits are mandated by PA state law for all injured workers who are suffering from a compensable work injury. All employers in the state are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance, which became law with the PA Workers Compensation Act.
However, did you know that for certain work injuries that result in the loss of a body part or organ, or permanent disfigurement, there is a special financial compensation payable to the injured worker that is separate from general Pennsylvania workers’ compensation?
If you have suffered an on-the-job injury that resulted in serious and permanent disfigurement, loss of a limb or body part such as a hand, leg, or eye, or loss of the use of a body part or organ you may be eligible to collect specific loss benefits.
If you have suffered permanent disfigurement or you have lost a limb or other body part as a direct result of a job-related injury, you want a Wilkes-Barre workers’ compensation lawyer from Munley Law in your corner.
What Are Specific Loss Benefits?
While workers’ compensation insurance pays for your medical expenses for treatment of your work-related injury and lost wages, specific loss benefits are special financial compensation for loss of body parts or body function.
These specific loss payments are the financial compensation you may be entitled to when you have suffered an injury at work so severe that you have permanent damage such as:
- Permanent disfigurement of the face, head, or neck
- Loss of a limb such as a leg or arm
- Loss of another body part or organ such as a hand, finger, eye, or ear
- Loss of the ability, even partially, of any body part or organ including vision loss or hearing loss
The Wilkes-Barre workers’ compensation attorneys at Munley Law are a family of local lawyers with roots in the Scranton Wilkes-Barre area for more than 60 years. We will fight for your rights as we have fought for other PA workers for more than six decades.
Call us today for your free consultation.
How Much Do Specific Loss Benefits Pay?
When claiming a specific loss for your injury, there are guidelines set by Pennsylvania law for compensation. Some examples include:
- Loss of a hand: 335 weeks of payments
- Loss of a thumb: 100 weeks
- Loss of an eye: 275 weeks
- Loss of a foot: 250 weeks
- Loss of a leg: 410 weeks
- Permanent loss of hearing in both ears: 260 weeks
Compensation will depend on whether the injury results in partial or total loss, and temporary or permanent disability. The complete list of specific loss payment amounts is outlined in the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act.
Can I Receive My Specific Loss Benefits in a Single Lump Sum Payment?
Specific loss payments can be made in a lump sum payment. However, accepting a single payout may include a potentially lower settlement amount vs the total you would have received in a structured settlement (payments over time) or regular payments.
You may also be relinquishing your right to collect more payments in the future.
Your workers’ compensation attorney can discuss all of these considerations with you and more.
If you have suffered a disfiguring accident at work or you have lost a limb or other body part call the Wilkes-Barre workers’ compensation attorneys at Munley Law today.
Wilkes-Barre Practice Areas
Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys
1170 PA-315
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702
(570) 399-0406
