Our client was employed by the Department of Health as a nurse when she injured her arm as a result of tripping over at work during the course of her employment. Due to the severity of her injuries, she underwent three separate procedures to help improve her pain symptoms as well as improve the movement in her right arm and wrist.
Unfortunately, our client’s injuries were of such severe nature that it was affecting her home and social life.
Becoming fed up with the lack of compassion from the workers compensation insurer, she decided to give the team here at Gerard Malouf and Partners a call to discuss her options as well as to discuss any potential claims that she may have in relation to her injury.
Here at Gerard Malouf and Partners, we understand that a workplace injury is not a temporary situation. We empathise with our clients and ensure that we strive to obtain maximum justice for our clients and explore all avenues in relation to obtaining the highest possible compensation for our clients.
Under the Workers Compensation Scheme, if you are injured at work you are entitled to three main forms of compensation:
- Compensation for medical expenses incurred as a result of the work related injury and related travel expenses;
- Weekly payments as a result of your incapacity to work; and
- A lump sum payment for your Permanent Impairment, if you satisfy the necessary threshold of 11% Whole Person Impairment (WPI).
When our client contacted our office, she had already been receiving weekly compensation for her time off work as well as compensation for her medical expenses.
She was not aware that she was also entitled to a lump sum compensation payment in relation to her Whole Person Impairment.
Upon taking her instructions to act, we applied to the Workers Compensation Independent Review Office (WIRO) for funding. WIRO is an office created by the government who provides grants of funding to lawyers to investigate workers compensation claims for people who have been injured at work.
We then arranged for our client to be examined by an approved medico-legal doctor who determined that our client exceed the 11% threshold required by the legislation.
We then served the medico-legal report on the other side who unfortunately, did not agree that our client had reached the 11% threshold and refused to pay her lump sum compensation.
The team here at Gerard Malouf in Blacktown will not tolerate when big corporations take advantage of injured workers and so we filed proceedings in the Workers Compensation Commission (WCC).
The matter was then referred to an Approved Medical Specialist from the WCC who determined that our client sustained a Whole Person Impairment well over the 11% threshold and directed that the insurer pay her lump sum compensation in relation to the percentage impairment.
The workers compensation department at Gerard Malouf and Partners will not stand by and allow insurance companies to take advantage of injured workers.
If you have a permanent injury, and you believe that you should be entitled to a lump sum compensation claim, then give Gerard Malouf and Partners a call.
