Charlottesville Virginia Workers’ Compensation Basics

Charlottesville Virginia Workers’ Compensation

When work injuries happen, your first priority should be to get the medical treatment you need to recover from your injuries.  But, what happens if the insurance company denies your claim or refuses to give you a choice of doctors?  These questions and others answered here in Charlottesville Virginia Workers’ Compensation Basics.

Most Important Steps After a Charlottesville Work Injury

The most important things you need to do after a Charlottesville work injury include:

• Report your injury to your supervisor or other person in charge
• Ask your employer for a list of doctors you can choose from
• File a Claim For Benefits form with the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission

What Benefits Am I Entitled To?

In Virginia, injured workers may be entitled to receive the following benefits:

• Medical care:  your employer must pay for all reasonable and necessary medical costs
• Temporary Total Disability benefits:  when your doctor tells you not to do any work temporarily.
• Temporary Partial Disability benefits:  when your doctor tells you that you can return to work with certain physical restrictions
• Permanent Partial Disability benefits:  when you have a permanent loss or loss of use to a body part
• Permanent Total Disability benefits:  when you have a permanent loss of functional use of two body parts (such as both legs, feet, or hands) or when there is a severe and permanent brain injury
• Please Note:  with Virginia workers’ compensation, you are usually not entitled to pain and suffering

Waiting Period and Average Weekly Wage (AWW)

There is a 7 calendar day waiting period for the wage benefits described above.  Additionally, wage benefits are calculated based on the employee’s average weekly wage at the time of the work injury.

Virginia workers’ compensation  average weekly wage is calculated in the following manner:

• Calculate all wages for 52 weeks before the job injury and divide by 52
• For temporary total disability benefit:  multiply your AWW by 2/3 to determine your workers’ compensation benefit

Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)

If you are receiving benefits for temporary total or permanent total disability, you may be entitled to receive a yearly cost of living increase.  Usually, you must request this increase from the workers’ compensation insurance company.

What to Look For in a Charlottesville Virginia Workers’ Compensation Lawyer?

Injured on the job?  Is the insurance company giving you the run around?

Worried about paying your bills while you are recovering from your injury?

Not sure about what you might be entitled to in Virginia Workers’ Comp, such as whether you are entitled to pain and suffering?

Don’t know whether you are entitled to a settlement or how much that settlement should be?

If these questions describe your concerns, you may need a Charlottesville Virginia Workers’ Compensation lawyer to help you make the best decisions for your case.

When choosing a lawyer, you should look for someone who specializes in Virginia Workers’ Compensation cases.  A lawyer who usually handles criminal or divorce cases, wills and other legal matters will likely not have the depth of experience needed to maximize your workers’ comp claim.

Our team of Virginia workers’ compensation attorneys at the Ritchie Law Firm has been successful in handling thousands of workers’ compensation claims over the past several decades.  We have won substantial recoveries in Virginia workers’ compensation cases.

When you health and family are on the line, we go into BATTLE for you!

Call us today!  800-277-6124  

There’s no fee to talk to us, and we’re paid only if we win your case.