Workers’ Compensation

Generally, workers’ compensation claims can be finalised between 12 and 24 months from the accident date. Others, but not many, can be finalised sooner than that and others can take longer.

Your case should only be settled when it is in your best interests to do so. One factor to take into account is whether you have reached maximum medical improvement, meaning you condition is unlikely to improve substantially in the next year, with or without medical treatment. Other factors that may need to be taken into account are how much income compensation is left; when will income compensation run out; whether there is a real risk your payments might be cut off; and whether there are any benefits in remaining in the workers' compensation system.

The timing of settlement is more critical for workers' compensation claims than most other claims. Leaving settlement negotiations too late may mean that you will forever lose the opportunity to obtain a fair settlement for your claim. An experienced specialist workers compensation lawyer will ensure that negotiations to settle your claim are commenced at the right time.

I will provide you with a realistic estimate of how long it should take to finish your claim, and I will ensure that negotiations are commenced at the right time.

I offer a free first appointment in person, by phone, or by email to assess your workers' compensation claim.

If I assess that your claim is will likely result in a payout, and I agree to take it on for you, then you have no need to worry about fees.

In those circumstances I will offer you my no win no fee service to run your claim with fees only payable upon your case being settled for a lump sum. No fees will be payable along the way to settlement of your claim and in most of cases most of your legal fees will be covered by the insurer over and above your settlement when your claim settles.

Find out more at our no-win no fee explainer page.

You will receive a full explanation of my no-win no fee service at your first appointment.

The workers’ compensation system is not designed to provide full compensation but is designed to provide some compensation for some losses an injured worker suffers. In some cases, depending on a worker’s injury and personal circumstances, the losses caused by a work injury might be covered by workers' compensation to a large extent and in other cases they will not.

If you have a claim, then your workers' compensation entitlements can include:

1. Income compensation payments to provide regular income during periods of incapacity for work.
2. Reasonable medical and health expenses.
3. Workplace rehabilitation expenses required to assist in return to work.
4. Travel expenses for medical attendances and treatment.
5. A modest lump sum for a permanent impairment of a body part or faculty included in a list described in the workers' comp legislation.

If your accident was caused by the negligence of your employer or a fellow employee or by the negligence of another person or company then you may also be entitled to claim common law damages which in most cases will provide more generous and complete compensation than workers' compensation.

Yes, strict time limits do apply to workers' compensation claims in Western Australia.

Written notice must be submitted to your employer of the occurrence giving rise to your injury as soon as practicable after the occurrence and you must make your claim for workers’ compensation within 12 months from the occurrence. Those time limits can be extended in certain circumstances.

Apart from your workers’ compensation claim :

1. you may also have a claim for negligence against your employer or a fellow employee and if you do, you must either settle that claim or otherwise elect to pursue damages and commence court proceedings before 3 years elapses from the date of your accident: and/or
2. you may also have a claim for negligence against another person or company, apart from your employer, and if you do, you must either settle that claim or otherwise commence court proceedings before 3 years elapses from the date of your accident

If time limits are not strictly adhered to you could forever lose your right to obtain compensation.

Income compensation is to be paid at a rate calculated in accordance with a formula set out in the workers’ compensation legislation.

The formula may result in income compensation being paid at exactly the same rate as pre-accident earnings for some workers. For other workers, income compensation will be paid at a rate a bit less than the usual pre-accident earnings and for some it will be paid at a rate significantly less than usual pre-accident earnings.

The application of the formula in the legislation can sometimes be quite complicated and in some cases can be misinterpreted and misapplied resulting in a worker being underpaid.

An experienced, specialist workers' compensation lawyer will be able to determine the correct rate.

If you think you are being underpaid or you are not sure the rate is correct, then contact me and I can help you.

The employer is liable to pay workers’ compensation to an injured worker.

In WA it is mandatory for an employer to be insured for workers' compensation except if it is a licensed self-insurer.

If the employer is insured for workers' compensation, then usually if liability for a claim is accepted:

1. the employer will pay regular income compensation payments which it will have the right to have reimbursed by the insurer.
2. the insurer will pay service providers such as hospitals, medical practitioners and allied health providers directly for reasonable accident injury related medical and health expenses.
3. the insurer will reimburse the worker for reasonable accident injury related out of pocket medical and health expenses as well as travel expenses.
4. the insurer will pay reasonably required workplace rehabilitation expenses directly to the workers' approved workplace rehabilitation service provider.

Some large companies are licensed to self-insure for workers' compensation and if liability is accepted for a workers' claim it will pay workers' compensation entitlements to that injured workers directly from its own financial resources.

Sometimes an employer that is required to be insured will fail to obtain a policy of workers' compensation insurance. That employer may not have the financial capacity to pay workers’ compensation to an injured worker. In those cases, workers’ compensation will be paid from a common fund to ensure that an injured worker in that situation does miss out on their rightful compensation.

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If you have a valid workers' compensation claim, then then it is likely you will be able to obtain a lump sum payout.

In many cases a worker will have the right to elect to be paid a modest lump sum for a permanent impairment of a body part or faculty. Electing to receive that lump sum will however end other entitlements such as income compensation, medical and health expenses and workplace rehabilitation expenses. It may also end any potential common law claim. For those reasons, it may be unwise to make that election.

You do not have an automatic right to a payout for income compensation, medical and health expenses, workplace rehabilitation expenses and travel expenses. Those entitlements together with any permanent impairment payment can however be ended for a once and for all lump sum payment in an amount negotiated and agreed upon with the insurer.

The decision to settle you workers' compensation claim is an extremely important one as it will forever end your workers' compensation entitlements and may end any potential common law claim for damages.

If you want to know if you are entitled to a payout for your claim, then I have the experience and specialist legal knowledge in workers’ compensation claims to ensure you get the right advice about whether you should settle your claim and how much you should be paid.

If liability is accepted for your claim, then your income compensation should be paid regularly by your employer in a manner no different to how your wages were paid. Normally your employer will pay income compensation in its usual pay run.

The insurer will pay medical and health expenses it considers reasonable as and when those expenses are incurred. Some expenses such as surgery, other expensive procedures and physiotherapy programs will usually require funding pre-approval by the insurer and or by the service provider.

Workplace rehabilitation expenses including the expenses of an approved workplace rehabilitation consultant and return-to-work programs will be paid by the insurer and usually funding will have to be pre-approved before the services are commenced.

You travel expenses can be paid as an when incurred by providing the insurer with details of journeys undertaken.

As explained above in “Will I get a payout?”, your entitlements can also be ended for a once and for all lump sum payment in an amount negotiated and agreed upon with the insurer.

There are many reasons why the insurer may decide not to accept that the employer is liable to compensate you. The insurer may not accept you are a worker, may not agree your injury was suffered at work or may not agree that your work caused or had any significant part to play in your injury or incapacity.

You should not give up just because of what the insurer decides. The insurer often gets it wrong or only has half the story when it makes a decision on liability.

Sometimes the insurer just needs to be presented with the right evidence or information to accept your claim. If that doesn’t work, then proceedings in WorkCover can be commenced to determine whether you are entitled to Workers’ Compensation.

The simple answer is not without first getting legal advice.

In my experience an offer made by an insurer to an unrepresented worker will in most, but not every case, be too low.

Also, apart from your workers compensation claim you may have a common law damages claim for the negligence of your employer or a fellow employee and/or for the negligence of another person or company. Such a claim will likely provide far more compensation than your workers’ compensation entitlements. Accepting an offer will forever end an entitlement to pursue a damages claim for the negligence of your employer or a fellow employee and may even end the right to pursue a damages claim against any other person or company.

In hundreds of cases, I have successfully obtained compensation for clients significantly higher than the offer they had received from the insurer before seeing me.

You should not agree to be interviewed by an insurance investigator, or to give a written statement to an insurance investigator, without first getting expert advice from an experienced, specialist compensation lawyer.

Contact me if an insurance investigator wants to speak to you and I can help. I will give you the advice you need as to what you should do and what is best for you.

If this has happened to you then contact me and I will know what to do.

I know which doctors and specialists will listen to you and will give a fair, accurate, credible, and objective opinion on your injuries.

If I agree to represent you, I will send you to such a doctor or specialist and pay for your consultation and report in accordance with my no win no fee service.

Contact me as I have the specialist legal knowledge and experience in workers' compensation claims that you need.

The insurer cannot simply stop paying or reduce your income compensation payments. Once income compensation payments have commenced there are only limited circumstances in which an insurer can stop or reduce income compensation payments including:

1. When the total amount of income compensation paid to a worker reaches the Income Compensation General Limit (currently $264,487)
2. The worker consents to income compensation payment’s ceasing or reducing.
3. The insurer applies for and obtains an order of an arbitrator at WorkCover to stop income compensation payments.
4. The insurer serves a notice on the worker of the employer's intention to cease or reduce income compensation payments on medical grounds and the worker fails to file an application for conciliation disputing that notice within a period of 21 days from the date it was received.
5. The worker returns to work and the employer has informed the worker in writing in an approved form of the basis of the reduction as well as the amount of any of top up income compensation that will be paid for partial incapacity.

If your income compensation payments have been stopped or reduced and you don’t know why, or the insurer is threatening to stop or reduce your income compensation payments then contact me. I have the specialist legal knowledge and experience in workers’ compensation claims to help you if this has happened.

I have successfully help hundreds of workers injured in WA obtain their rightful compensation entitlements including rightful lump sum compensation payouts even if their income compensation payments were stopped by the insurer before seeing me.

You should get expert advice immediately. Strict time limits may apply.

To preserve your income compensation payments, you will need to make all the right moves quickly. If you don’t your income compensation payments could end forever.

You may need to file an application in WorkCover, file a response to the insurer’s WorkCover application and/or obtain appropriate medical and other evidence.

It will be very difficult if not impossible for you to take all the right steps without expert legal representation.

I have successfully helped hundreds of workers injured in WA to preserve their rightful income compensation payments and I have successfully fought many cases in WorkCover to prevent the insurer from stopping income compensation payments.

There are many reasons why the insurer may refuse or stop funding these types medical and health of expenses. Some of those reason might be valid and others not.

The insurer may not agree that the treatment is reasonable or is not for an injury or condition caused by the work accident or work activity. It may take the view other treatment options should be tried first or it may have obtained an opinion from a doctor of its choice that the treatment you want is not appropriate.

Sometimes the insurer just needs to be provided with the right medical evidence to persuade it to pay these expenses. If that doesn’t work, you have the right to fight for payment of medical expenses in WorkCover. That may be the appropriate action to take depending on the medical evidence and how much expense is at stake.

If this has happened to you then contact me. I have the specialist legal knowledge and experience in workers’ compensation claims to help you get the treatment you want paid for and I have successfully fought many cases for payment of expenses in WorkCover.

This is not a simple question to answer. There are many considerations, such as;

• The assessment of your permanent impairment caused by your injuries.
• The long-term effect your injuries will have on your work capacity and treatment needs.
• Whether you have an ongoing need for workplace rehabilitation.
• The income compensation payment rate.
• How much workers’ compensation you have already been paid and how much remains of General Maximum Amount/ Income Compensation General Limit.
• Whether you have a common law claim for damages

If you want to know what you claim is worth, then contact me as I have specialist legal knowledge and experience in workers’ compensation claims to give you the right advice that you need.

If your claim was caused by the negligence of your employer, a fellow employee or by the negligence of another person of company then you might be able to claim common law damages.

Common law damages will provide, in most cases, more complete and more generous compensation than workers' compensation and in a lot of cases it will provide far more compensation.

I have the specialist legal knowledge and experience in workers’ compensation claims to advise you if you have common law claim.