Although they both involve receiving compensation for injuries, there are some stark differences between personal injury cases and workers’ compensation cases. We handle both types of cases, but it’s important that you know the differences between the two so that you can get all the benefits you deserve. Today, we take a look at the differences between the two types of injury cases, and we explain how you can get compensation for each.
The Key Difference – Fault
The main difference between personal injury cases and workers’ compensation cases is the existence of fault. For example, in order to receive compensation for a personal injury claim, you must prove that an injury occurred and a third party was at fault or contributed to your injuries. In workers’ compensation cases, you only need to prove that you suffered an injury while performing work duties. Fault does not need to be present in order to receive a substantial workers’ compensation claim. The work injury can be a freak accident or your own fault, but if it happened on company time, you can still pursue compensation.
Another big difference between the two types of cases is how compensation is calculated and determined. When it comes to personal injury cases, you are usually entitled to more compensation options, including pain and suffering, permanent or partial disability, loss of future earnings, medical expenses and other emotional, physical and psychological impairments.
For workers’ compensation cases, the compensation options are more limited, but you can still earn very significant compensation packages. Compensation usually centers around medical expenses, wage loss, permanent or partial disability, and retraining expenses.
Filing A Personal Injury or Workers’ Compensation Claim
In most cases, injured parties will only file one of the two cases, but there are rare instances when a person may be able to file a personal injury case and a workers’ compensation case. This usually happens when a company willfully or negligently ignores safety protocols that results in an injury to an employee.
For example, if a fleet operate knew the brakes in a truck were bad, but they sent an employee out on a delivery and a crash occurred, or a construction manager did not have enough safety harnesses for the crew but demanded they all work on the roof and worker fell, those employees may be able to pursue both types of cases. Even if you are entitled to both types of cases, your lawyer may opt to focus on maximizing one type of claim instead of working on two different fronts with two different courts.
At the end of the day, the best way to earn compensation for either injury case is by working with an experienced injury firm like Hey Workers. Our aggressive approach has helped countless employees and individuals get the compensation they so rightly deserve when they suffer an injury. For representation or legal advice, don’t hesitate to give us a call today at (844) 439-9675.
