Lump Sum Offer WorkCover Claim. To Accept or Reject.

2022-06-28T17:03:58+10:0013/09/2018|Workers Rights|

Lump Sum Offer WorkCover Claim. To Accept or Reject.

Do not accept your offer until you have spoken to one of our Lawyers

There is no point taking a risk on your future when you can get free legal advice from an expert. We will explain your risks, your options and you entitlement. If it’s in your best interest, we will act. If not then we will let you know. If we further investigate your matter for you, then no matter what happens if you do accept WorkCover’s Lump Sum offer it will always be 100% yours.

Be Careful: Other law firms may take 50% of your Lump Sum Offer.

We thought that clients getting 100% of the WorkCover statutory claim lump sum offer was normal. Turn’s out that other firms charge to investigate claims even if the client doesn’t want to proceed onto a common law claim. We were appalled when a distressed man rung our firm explaining that he was going to lose half of his ump sum offer to a personal injury firm. He didn’t want to proceed with a common law claim, but faced with losing 50% of his lump sum offer he felt rapped. If had been our client we would have investigated his claim for free meaning his lump sum offer would have remained entirely his.

Degree of Permanent Impairment and Your Lump Sum Offer. 

Before you get given your lump sum offer you must have an assessment for you Degree of Permanent Impairment (DPI). Your DPI will range between 0-100. Your DPI will determine you lump sum offer. If you don’t agree with your DPI then you should respond within 20 business days to appeal the assessment however you should contact our lawyers first before doing so. If you decide to ignore the DI to proceed with the Common Law claim when your employer has been negligent which contributed or caused your injury to occur then don’t stress, you can ignore the lump sum offer based on the DPI and come back to offer after the 20 days as the offer will simply defer.

WorkCover and the self insurers often make it appear that if you don’t accept the lump sum offer based on the DPI then it will expire but this is simply not the case!

Using you DPI to Calculate your Lump Sum Offer. 

The maximum statutory compensation for degrees of impairment which are under 30% is $307,385. The lump sum offer for your DPI is calculated by multiplying the maximum statutory compensation by your degree of permanent impairment.

DPI of 1%: $307,385 x 1% = $3,073.85
DPI of 2%: $307,385 x 2% = $6,147.70
DPI of 3%: $307,385 x 3% = $9,221.50
The WorkCover Statutory Process
A flow chat that shows the workcover statutory process

Your Three Options when Finalising Statutory Claim

  1. DPI less then 20% accept lump sum offer and finalise your Claim (You should speak to our Lawyers before accepting)
  2. DPI more than 20% accept lump sum offer and also run a common law claim
  3. DPI less then 20% reject lump sum offer and run a common law claim (although there are appeal options to appeal the DPI, our Lawyers would advise whether this is suitable or whether it is better to proceed straight to the Common Law claim)
Common Law Claim Compensation Result versus Statutory Lump Sum Offer
In short, a common law claims allows you to claim compensation for other heads of damages which are not taken into account with the statutory lump sum offer.Take into consideration the matter of Mills v BHP Coal Pty Ltd (2017) from the Supreme Court of Rockhampton. Frank Mills, the Plaintiff claimed compensation for injuries that he obtained in October 2014 during his employment with the Defendant, BHP.  The injuries occurred when he attempted to open a stuck butterfly valve on a vacuum pump. His injuries included damage to his cervical spine and right rotator cuff.In this matter Frank Mill’s was assessed with a 12% DPI. Should he have finalised his statutory claim by accepting  the lump sum offer he would have received only $36,886.20 for his serious injuries.Instead Frank proceeded with a common law claim and consequently other heads of damages were taken into consideration. This table outlines the heads of damage which saw Frank receive a total of $1,013,131.89 gross in damages.So what are you waiting for? Book your free consultation today via the online form or by calling our office on 07 3416 4999.