Everyone wants to get a fair settlement for their injury award, but when you’re dealing with significant injuries or trying to calculate future medical expenses, it can be difficult to be able to truly understand the financial impact an injury can have over the course of your lifetime. Because of this, many people wonder if they are able to reopen their injury case or vacate a previous settlement offer in order to get a larger award. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at the reasons a previous settlement can be vacated in Minnesota.
Reopening A Closed Injury Case In Minnesota
Workers compensation law does allow a previously settled case to be reopened, but as you might imagine, simply realizing that you made a bad deal or made some poor decisions with your payouts won’t warrant a reexamination of your injury case. Per Minnesota law, previous injury settlements can be reopened or vacated under limited circumstances where the plaintiff can prove that “cause” exists.
Minnesota law suggests that cause to vacate a previous agreement if any of the following conditions are present:
There Was A Mutual Mistake Of Fact – If there was an obvious error or mistake that both parties can agree is mutually incorrect, a previous judgment can be thrown out or reopened to account for this mutual mistake of fact.
Newly Discovered Evidence – If new evidence is discovered that has the ability to change the basis of the award, a case can be reopened. For example, if traffic camera footage is discovered, a new witness comes forward or other evidence that can significantly help another party’s case is discovered, a case can be reopened.
The Award Was Based On Fraud – If it turns out that you were lying or the doctor provided a fraudulent examination, a case can be reopened.
A Substantial Change In Medical Condition – Finally, if there was a substantial change in your medical condition, you may be able to get your case reopened. The issue here is that the substantial change could not have been reasonably anticipated at the time the award was originally granted. It’s entirely possible for an injury to result in worsening symptoms as a person ages, but that alone does not mean there was a substantial and unexpected change to your medical condition. The change in medical condition must not be reasonably foreseeable at the time the original deal was made.
As you might imagine, vacating a previous award is no easy task, even if you believe you have legitimate grounds to have it vacated. You’ll need to carefully build your case and prepare for pushback from the insurance provider. With that in mind, it’s almost always in your best interests to connect with a workers’ compensation injury law firm like Hey Workers to ensure your arguments are airtight and to prepare for how the other side may counter your argument. We’ve helped a number of clients get their cases reopened for legitimate reasons. It’s not easy, but we embrace the challenge.
So if you are wondering if you’re eligible to have a previous award vacated or to have your case reopened because of a substantial change of fact, reach out to the talented team of injury specialists at Hey Workers. We’ll take a look at your case and help you decide the best path forward. For more information, or for help with your case, give us a call today at (844) 439-9675.
