Does the Virginia Workers Comp Insurance Company Get All My Accident Case Money ?

Whether you have broken one, two or more limbs, if you settle your bodily injury case, you must payback the money the workers comp insurance company paid in benefits and/or settlement, according to Herndon Virginia job injury lawyer Doug Landau

Many misgivings abound concerning what happens when an injured worker wins or settles their accident case.  A recent question was, “In Maryland Workers Compensation (“WC”) claims where the disabled, brain-injured worker ALSO has a Bodily Injury (“BI”) case, the Workers Comp lien must be reduced by at least 1/3 when there is a BI recovery.”  The “Workers Compensation lien” is the “IOU” on the bodily injury claim.  In other words, under Virginia law, an injured worker (or his family) must repay the workers compensation insurance company after a settlement (or verdict) in their bodily injury accident case.

It does not matter if the injured worker or his family recover more or less than the amount that the workers comp insurance company’s “IOU,” the insurer is still to be paid back.  The severity of the injury is also of no moment.  Whether the worker has suffered a permanent brain injury, a broken bone or a simple sprain, the compensation insurance company must be paid back.  And, in an “open comp claim” that has not been settled, if the employee or his family settle the claim WITHOUT the workers comp carrier’s permission, they forfeit all rights to future benefits.

In tomorrow’s post, we will look at HOW MUCH the injured worker and his family may have to pay back to the Workers Compensation Insurance Company. If you or someone you know or care for has been injured and become disabled as the result of an on the job accident, and there are questions about the interplay between Workers Compensation laws and Virginia accident claims, e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555) at once.