How Do You Get Compensation For A Work Accident?
Statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have shown that there are approximately 600,000 employees a year who suffer from an injury caused at work. Almost half of these accidents result in the injured person, on average, to take one week or more off from work.
No matter what type of work you do, may it have high or low risk to accidents, every employee deserves to be compensated for the harm that has been caused at the work place.
Read this to see if you are eligible to make a work accident compensation claim.
Eligibility To File For Work Accident Claim
If you have acquired an injury within the span of three years from the date of the accident at your workplace or anywhere while you were working, then you are entitled to work compensation.
In order to successfully claim compensation, your lawyer or solicitor should prove that your employer was the one liable for your injuries.
Here are some examples of work-related accidents:
- Burns or Scalds
- Slip or Trip Claims
- Falling from Height Claims
- Hazardous Substance-related Claims
- Dangerous Machinery Injuries Claims
- Failure of Safety Equipment Claims
Who Is Responsible For The Accident?
It is a legal obligation of the employer to take care of his/her employees. If anything happens to one of the employees and is proven as a work-related accident, the employer is at fault.
Therefore, employers should always take into consideration maintaining the work environment and keeping it safe and as clean as possible. This is to prevent unwanted accidents to take place.
If you suffer from any injury that was caused carrying out your work duties, your employer is responsible to compensate you for any damages/losses that have resulted from the incident.
Who Pays Your Compensation?
All employers are obliged by law to apply for Employers’ Liability (EL) insurance. This provides the employer with insurance cover for compensation for any employee filing a work accident claim.
The Employers’ Liability insurance guarantees the rights of the employees to receive full compensation regardless of any circumstance (as long as there is a genuine work related accident).
Advantages Of Getting Work Accident Compensation
There are many benefits upon successfully claiming your compensation. It’s greatly helpful to cover for your losses in terms of property or monetary value.
Availing your right to compensation can aid you in your medical needs and recovery, reimburse the expenses for such things as transportation or other miscellaneous fees and can cover loss of earnings. Discuss your injuries with a personal injury lawyer in order to fully find out what you are eligible to claim for.
Vicarious Liability
In this case, it is not directly the employer or nature of work which causes your injury but, another employee. Nonetheless, the company will still stand responsible for that employees’ actions.
Therefore, upon filing a work accident claim it will still be addressed against the employer or company.
Can A Self-Employed Person Get Work Compensation?
The answer to this question would be a, Yes. Self-employed individuals are still entitled to claim compensations. This all depends on the situation and the accident that occurred to which you can determine who will be providing you with the compensation.
It is best to talk to a trusted personal injury lawyer to discuss further options regarding this matter.
Time Limit Of The Work Accident Claim
A work accident claim must be raised within three years from the date of the accident. Failure to do so results your claim to be barred, which means it cannot be trialed in court.
In the event where the effect or result of the accident appears delayed or occurs in the long-run, the time limit shall begin upon the awareness of the victim regarding the injury.
How Long Does It Take To Receive Your Compensation?
This matter is a case-to-case basis situation. Some issues are settled briefly and in a short amount of time. Some are complicated to resolve which results to a longer process.
In the case wherein you are admitted to the hospital for a long time and can no longer pay for the bills, an interim compensation can be availed to cover for you.
How To File A Work Accident Claim
There are numbers of actions to keep in mind upon raising an accident claim. You need to be mindful of every detail that occurred to help your personal injury lawyer or solicitor to strengthen the case.
- Report the accident to your employer and log the incident in the employers accident book.
- Choose the best and trusted personal injury lawyer or solicitor. He/she will be the manpower behind your work accident claim. A lawyer or solicitor can help you to successfully claim your compensation especially if the employer or company refuses to take responsibility of the incident.
- Document all information that is related to the accident and inform both your employer and lawyer. All information gathered will be used to determine how much compensation you will be awarded.
- Ensure that your Employer forwards this claim to the Health and Safety Executive. A good way to ensure this is to log the accident in the accident book.
- Collect statements from possible witnesses and take note of their personal information.
- Collect as much evidences as you can from the scene of the accident. Taking photos of it is one of the best ways to gather proof.
Whenever you become hesitant whether or not to file a work accident claim, it is in your best interest to just talk to a personal injury lawyer.