Getting the right advice for your injury can put your mind at ease knowing that your wages are covered and expenses reimbursed, but you also need to think about the future and the ongoing repercussions of your injury.

As we know, sustaining an injury can have a detrimental effects, with time off work, medical bills and expenses and quite often there are other ‘hidden expenses’ that crop up unexpectedly. Suffering an injury can have a ripple effect on the whole family especially if you are the main income earner and have dependants reliant on you. By getting legal help you may find that you are in a better position than you initially thought, depending on the circumstances of your injury.

When people are injured at work they don’t always think they need to acquire legal help. Most tend to follow normal procedures; telling their employer who then puts through the relevant workers comp paperwork to the Workers Compensation insurer (in Queensland this is WorkCover QLD) and they think ‘that’s it, that’s all I need to do - right?’ Wrong.

What many workers fail to realise is that they may have ‘other’ entitlements that are not available through Workers Compensation and are only obtainable by a lawyer. With this in mind many workers miss out on tens of thousands of dollars in compensation that may help them greatly when adapting to new circumstances following their injury. This is why it is irecommended you contact an Australian Injury Infoline such as Work Injury Compensation on 1300 662 696. Or for legal help online complete the form on this page.

By contacting the Work Injury Compensation injury helpline you can get free legal advice and establish:

• If there is any negligence at the time of injury
• All your rights to compensation
• What compensation you may be entitled to receive
• What to do next to ensure you don’t miss out on what legally and rightfully belongs to you

In the cases of a permanent injury WorkCover will send you for an independent medical assessment and then, you will have the level of permanence measured in the form of a percentage. Following the medical assessment WorkCover will issue you with a Notice of Assessment and this may include a lump sum payment. Some workers may think ‘this is good - some compensation for the permanence of my injury – right’ – no, not necessarily. If there was any negligence present that caused the injury or procedures in place failed to prevent the injury from occurring, you may have other entitlements under common law. Also another thing to bear in mind is that lump sum payments do not take into account ‘future’ expenses and economic losses that you may encounter.

On the Notice of Assessment from WorkCover it suggests seeking advice from a lawyer and yes, this is certainly the right thing to do. It is very important that you SEEK ADVICE BEFORE YOU SIGN ANYTHING by calling a legal injury helpline on 1300 662 696.

Once you have signed, that is the end of your claim and you may lose your future rights to claim.

For legal help call Work Injury Compensation Australian Injury Infoline on 1300 662 696 or for legal help online complete the case review form on this page.