If you suffer an injury at work you should immediately notify your employer and seek treatment. After this you should contact WorkCover Queensland to report the work incident and injury.

Most injuries arising from a work incident are covered by the insurer WorkCover Queensland which is Queensland’s workers’ compensation scheme. All employers hold this type of insurance to protect employees against workplace injuries.

WorkCover Queensland will manage your treatment and if necessary pay your wages through the course of your injury.

In some circumstances the insurer will not be WorkCover Queensland. The employer may be ‘self-insured’ or have a private insurer. Regardless of the situation your entitlement to bring a claim is likely to be the same.

Lime Lawyers can assist in all types of workers compensation claims.

Statutory Claims

Every person who is injured working or travelling to and from work is entitled to statutory WorkCover benefits. These benefits can include medical treatment/rehabilitation and replacement wages if you require time off work. This is the ‘no fault’ part of the WorkCover scheme.

After a period of rehabilitation and/or treatment, which varies depending on the severity of your injury, WorkCover will cease your claim. This does not necessarily mean that your injury has resolved, just that WorkCover does not believe that any further treatment will improve your injury. It is at this point that your “Statutory Claim” is normally finalised.

Common Law

At this point of your claim WorkCover will stop paying your wages or for any further medical treatment/rehabilitation. This is when you must decide if you would like to bring a “Common Law” claim.

Common Law claims are made to ensure that an injured worker is not disadvantaged in the future due to injuries they have suffered during the course of their employment. As such a claim is made for pain and suffering, past and future loss of wages and for past and future medical/rehabilitation expenses.

To access common law the injured worker is required to show that a negligence has caused their injury. This is sometimes not clear and may require advice from a lawyer.

When you receive a lump sum offer from WorkCover it is important that you seek legal advice. In some instances you will be able to accept the lump sum offer and still make a common law claim for damages. However in the majority of cases by accepting the lump sum offer you will lose all your common law rights.

There are strict limitation periods in which to appeal lump sum offers. If a correct appeal is not made you may lose your right to have the original impairment reviewed. This may stop you from making a common law claim.  It is important to obtain legal advice if you do not agree with your level of impairment.

If you are injured in the course of your work but employed as a contractor and have a “host” employer you are still entitled to make a claim for compensation.

Depending on the circumstances your claim may be covered by workers compensation legislation, public liability legislation or potentially both.  Lime Lawyers can advise you in relation to this.

You can claim compensation for any injury/injuries you sustain in the course of your work.

Examples of the type of injuries include:

• Whiplash (neck or back)
• Neck and Back (strains, protrusions, fractures, paraplegia, quadriplegia)
• Shoulder (strains, tendon tears, fractures, frozen shoulder)
• Upper limb (hand, wrist, fingers, elbow, collar bone, carpal tunnel syndrome)
• Lower limb (feet, toes, ankles, knees, legs, hips)
• Head and Brain (loss of memory, brain damage, dental, eyesight, hearing)
• Internal (Ribs, lungs, spleen, liver, stomach, kidneys)
• Burns and scarring
• Hernias
• Repetitive strain injuries
• Lacerations and amputations
• Emotional (PTSD, bullying, anxiety, depression, panic attacks)

This is not a complete list of the types of injuries you can claim compensation for. Please contact us to speak with one of our lawyers to get expert advice regarding your specific circumstances.

The circumstances around each claim are different. Initially, your claim involves the treatment of your injury – the more serious the claim the longer the treatment period. The main determining factor is the time it takes for your injuries to ‘stabilise’, the amount of treatment you need and how well you recover from your injuries. It is only when the injury is stable that negotiations can commence.

There is a legal process that must be followed in all cases and time frames associated with each stage of the process. Therefore the earlier you commence your claim the earlier those timeframes commence.

Once we know the circumstances of your case and severity of your injury we will be in a better position to estimate how long your claim would take to finalise.

There are several components (heads of damage) that make up someone’s compensation claim.

These include:

• Pain and suffering;
• Past and future loss of income, overtime or other employment benefits (including superannuation);
• Expenses for medication, treatment, travelling expenses or specialist attendances that you have incurred;
• Reimbursement for paid assistance, eg. cleaning, gardening or pool cleaning;
• Care and assistance provided by family members or friends for personal care (such as dressing or showering), household activities (such as vacuuming or meal preparation) or the time taken to drive and accompany you to medical appointments;
• Future medical expenses including medication, physical or psychological treatment or surgery.

You should contact one of our experts for advice which is specific to your case.

You will not have to pay anything up-front nor will you have to pay any legal expenses. This includes our legal fees and the cost of all medical reports until you are successful in obtaining compensation for your claim.

You will not be required to borrow money or take out a high interest litigation loan . We do not require the money we pay on your behalf to be paid back until your claim settles.

There is a strict three (3) year time limit to bring a personal injuries claim in Queensland.  This runs from the date of your injury.  There are also time limits regarding lump sum offers and the time within which you must lodge an appeal to the offer made.

There also may be shorter time limits for injuries that have occurred over a period of time such as a repetitive strain injury or psychological injury.

If you need advice about how long you have to bring your claim or need to protect your rights contact us on 1800 LIMELAW.

When your claim is finalised, the money you receive is not income and is therefore not taxable.

Please note that any interest/income that you earn by investing your compensation money may be taxed.

If injuries sustained in a work accident cause you to stop work for an extended period, lose your job or cause a financial impact on your business you will be able to claim this loss or future loss.

In the short term, you may also have an entitlement to access income protection benefits, a lump sum through Total and Personal Disability or ‘trauma’ insurance or seek an early release of your superannuation balance. Follow this link for more information on TPD and superannuation claims.

If you have any queries or wish to speak to one of our lawyers please call us on 1800 LIMELAW or complete our online enquiry form.

Lime Lawyers provides free initial consultations and case appraisals.  We can also come to you if necessary.