Legal Question in Workers Comp in Florida

Re: settlement talks

Florida Work Comp is not fair to either the injured workers who must make do with the small payments and disability or the employers who pay large premiums for very little in return. Your question is further complicated in that your date of accident may determine the type and amount of benefits you are eligible for. As a practicle matter the insurance company rarely offers to pay fair amount in it first offer. What do the hearing aids cost? How long will they last before needing replacement? How much do the batteries cost? How often do they need to replace? Answer these questions and multiply by your life expectancy to see what this alone will cost over your life time. Compare this number with the amount they are offering. You will also need follow-up with a doctor and periodic testing by an audiologist. What will this cost over your life expectancy? You may also be entitled to get paid for time missed from work? did they pay? Did they pay the correct amount? If not, then you may also be entitled to a 20% penalty and interest on the late payments. Lastly, you may be entitled to impairment benefit payments bases on a permanent impairment. The 0% is crap. Case law has long held that there cannot be a 0% if there is in fact a residual defecit of functioning. The determination if permanent impairment for hearing loss is complicated and requires a proper analysis analysis of the hearing loss (in decibles) at 500Hz, 1000Hz, 2000Hz and 300HZ. These values for each ear are added and then compared to a chart to determine percentage of impairment to the body as a whole. For you, a 0% would mean that you have normal hearing. You obviously do not. Most work comp claimant attorney's, like my firm, take these cases on a contingent fee basis. We only get paid a percentage of fees on benefits actually obtained. Most will also provide a free consultation. Further, there are provisions that require the insurance company to pay your attorney's fees in many disputed cases. $10K is not a small amount of money but without considering the issues above it is hard to determine if the amount is fair.