Bowling Green Workers Compensation Lawyers

If you suffered an on-the-job injury, you may be eligible for workers' compensation benefits. But filing a claim and collecting money is not as simple as many workers believe it to be. Our Bowling Green workers compensation lawyers can help you get the most out of your claim, ensuring you do not fall prey to one of the many pitfalls that have snagged other injured workers.

At Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers, our job is to fight for the rights of injured workers in Bowling Green. Our office is conveniently located on Campbell Lane near Greenwood Mall. We offer a free case evaluation to new clients to get to know you, learn about your situation, and see how a Bowling Green personal injury lawyer from our firm can help.

To speak with a member of our team today, call our Bowling Green office at 800-800-4600.

In Kentucky, the law requires almost all private companies to cover their employees under workers' compensation. Your employer pays premiums on your behalf, which allows you to file a claim and collect benefits if you suffer injuries on the job. In exchange for offering this benefit to workers, the law shields employers from litigation. Except in rare circumstances, you may not sue your employer directly for an on-the-job injury.

In theory, workers' compensation should be a win-win for employers and employees. Companies do not have to worry about legal action, while workers receive a simplified process to recover compensation after an injury. However, the program is not without its flaws — and those flaws often pose more challenges to workers than to employers.

At Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers, we help clients overcome the challenges of the workers' compensation system. The two big challenges are:

• Your employer tries to deny your claim, and
• Your employer is out of compliance

Looking for a personal injury lawyer near you? We don’t get paid until you get paid.

Your Employer May Deny Your Claim

Your employer may have a financial incentive to try to deny your claim. Workers' compensation is like any other insurance — it is based on risk. When an insurer perceives a client as risky, it protects itself by charging that client higher premiums. Companies whose employees file a lot of workers' compensation claims may eventually receive a high-risk classification, and they have to pay more to cover their employees through workers' compensation.

Having said all of that, your employer cannot deny your claim for just any reason. In fact, the situations that allow them to do so are very narrow in scope. Your employer must be able to show that you were:

• Intoxicated at the time of your injury
• Engaged in grossly reckless behavior

Aside from these two scenarios, even if the injury was partly your fault, your employer will likely be unable to deny your claim.

We can anticipate any attempt by your employer to deny your claim. Your employer may try to characterize your behavior as reckless when you simply made a careless mistake that led to your injury. We can push back against these claims and help you recover the compensation you deserve.

Your Employer Is Out of Compliance

Occasionally, an injured employee will file a workers' compensation claim, only to have it denied because their employer is out of compliance with the program.

If this happens to you, we can help you pursue compensation via other means made available by the state of Kentucky.

To schedule a free case evaluation today with a Bowling Green workers' compensation lawyer from Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers, call 800-800-4600 today.

Depending on the circumstances of your injury, workers' compensation may not be the only available avenue to recover compensation.

If a third party other than your employer caused or contributed to your injury in some way, we can pursue them for damages in a private claim.

Third parties from whom we may be able to seek damages may include job site owners, contractors, and subcontractors.

Once we take your case, we can investigate your injury and determine what damages you are eligible to recover. In a workers' compensation claim, you are limited to recovering economic damages. That is, your compensation will cover just your actual financial losses. Economic damages recoverable through workers’ comp include:

• Medical bills (both current and future)
• A portion of your lost wages
• Emergency transportation
• Prescription drugs
• Medical devices

But if we identify a responsible third party and go after them in a private lawsuit, we can seek both economic and noneconomic damages. Noneconomic damages pay you for other, more subjective losses that do not involve monetary depletion, including:

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional anguish
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Loss of consortium
• Scarring and disfigurement

In Kentucky, you have two years from the date of your injury to file a workers' compensation claim. It sounds like a long time, but it can pass faster than you realize, especially if you are focused on your health and recovery.

A Bowling Green workers' compensation lawyer from Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers can take action on your behalf right away, keeping you from running up against any statute of limitations challenges.

Call 800-800-4600 today to schedule a free case evaluation with a member of our team.

Once we take your case, we can investigate your injury and determine what damages you are eligible to recover. In a workers' compensation claim, you are limited to recovering economic damages. That is, your compensation will cover just your actual financial losses. Economic damages recoverable through workers’ comp include:

• Medical bills (both current and future)
• A portion of your lost wages
• Emergency transportation
• Prescription drugs
• Medical devices

But if we identify a responsible third party and go after them in a private lawsuit, we can seek both economic and noneconomic damages. Noneconomic damages pay you for other, more subjective losses that do not involve monetary depletion, including:

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional anguish
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Loss of consortium
• Scarring and disfigurement