Weekly Payments

You may be entitled to weekly payments when a work-related injury has resulted in loss of earnings as you have a reduced capacity for work.  These payments may either be weekly wage payments or top up payments when you only have capacity to return to work part-time.

The amount of weekly payments will depend on:

• Your pre-injury weekly earnings
• Your capacity to work, either total or partial
• The length of time that has passed since you sustained your injury.

Weekly benefits are divided into three periods:

1. The first period is of 13 weeks;
2. The second period is from week 14 to week 130;
3. The third period is from week 131 to 260 weeks (5 years).

After 5 years or 260 weeks of receiving weekly benefits, your weekly payments will cease unless you are assessed with 20% WPI or more. If you are assessed with more than 20% permanent impairment, you are considered a ‘seriously injured worker’, the weekly benefits periods do not apply and you are entitled to receive weekly benefits until the Commonwealth age of retirement (age 67) subject to ongoing capacity assessments.

If you are partially disabled, you must cooperate with the employer and insurer and make reasonable efforts to return to work in suitable employment or pre-injury employment at your place of employment or at another place.

As a Claimant, your employer’s Insurer will be entitled to refer to a work capacity assessment in order to determine the rate of your weekly compensation payments. This will be subject to an initial internal review by the Insurer, a merit review by WorkCover and finally a procedural review by an Independent Review Officer nominated by WorkCover.

If you have been injured at work, our team at Trump Lawyers can help you get the workers compensations benefits and damages you deserve. Our team will carefully evaluate your case and help you reach the fairest settlement with your employer’s insurer. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.

Medical, Hospital and Rehabilitation Expenses

Medical, hospital and rehabilitation expenses will be paid where the treatment or service:

• Meets the definition described in Section 59 of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW).
• Takes place while the worker is entitled to receive compensation for the medical, hospital and rehabilitation expenses
• Is pre-approved by the Insurer (unless the treatment or service is exempt from pre-approval)

You may only claim for the cost of medical and related treatment, hospital treatment and rehabilitation services during a specific compensation entitlement period. The compensation period that applies to you depends on whether or not your injury has resulted in an assessed degree of permanent impairment.

Workers with no permanent impairment or a permanent impairment assessed as 10% or less can claim expenses for treatment or services provided:

• For 2 years after weekly payments stop being payable, or
• For 2 years from the date of claim if no weekly payments made.

Workers with a degree of permanent impairment assessed as more than 10% but not more than 20% can claim expenses for treatment or services provided:

• For 5 years after weekly payments stop being payable, or
• For 5 years from the date of claim if no weekly payments

Workers with “high needs” can claim medical and related expenses for life. A worker with high needs is a worker:

• With a permanent impairment assessed as more than 20%
• An assessment of the degree of permanent impairment is pending and has not been made because an approved medical specialist has declined to make the assessment, or
• The Insurer is satisfied that the degree of permanent impairment is likely to be more than 20%.

We advise that in respect of your entitlement to compensation for permanent impairment, a medical practitioner specialising in the field of your injuries would have to assess you with more than 10% WPI in order for you to be entitled to receive lump sum compensation for your permanent impairment. There is no permanent impairment compensation payable for a degree of permanent impairment of 10% or less.