Q: What can I do to make sure WC is offering me a fair settlement? Are there other options they're not telling me about?
The final report from the Dr. regarding my WC injury is that I am permanent stationary. I have tendonitis up to my elbows in both arms & have had it for over a year now but am recovering. WC is offering me to either settle my case for $5,000 or for me to keep it open in case I need any future medical help. This insurance agency has been untrustworthy in the past by trying to deduct more from my Temp. Disability payments they owed me before I returned to my job in an accommodating position.
Because I'm healing, I feel inclined to take the settlement, but I'm afraid they might be offering me less than what my case is truly worth. I don't have an attorney at all & am tentative about getting one involved because I know my case is a pretty small one. I want to be sure that if I take the $, I'm covered financially & that they're not cheating me out of $ that I'm rightfully owed.
A: If an insurance adjuster offered it voluntarily, KNOW is the the very, very lowest possible amount the adjuster thinks a workers comp judge might approve. $5000 is 'nuisance' value, the amount they offer for a worthless claim with zero disability to just go away and not bother any one any more. IF YOU ONLY WENT TO THE INSURER'S DOCTOR, THEN RIGHT NOW YOUR CASE IS WORTH ZERO. the insurer's 'doctor' is paid well to write you have fully recovered and you are pain free and you have Zero Whole Person Impairment (even though you are probably limited in activities of daily living like chopping meat and chopping vegetables and cleaning and doing laundry and sweeping and mopping and vacuuming). IF you were with a REAL doctor, one not 'in bed' with the insurance company, and explained you use paper plates and frozen dinners because it hurts so badly to cook and do dishes, and you need help getting in and out of the shower because it hurts to hold on, and you have someone else vacuum and dust and sweep now because it makes your elbows ache too much, THEN the case would be worth thousands depending on the finding of Whole Person Impairment. If both hands make it dangerous driving and you lost so much feeling you cannot wipe yourself on the toilet, it could be six figures. YOU REALLY NEED AN ATTORNEY.
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