Can You File a Personal Injury Claim for a Work-From-Home Accident?

If you have been injured while working from home, your first thought may be to file a workers’ compensation claim. This will allow you to recoup medical expenses, wage replacement, and permanent disability benefits. Under some circumstances, you may be entitled to compensation from a third party under a personal injury suit in addition to filing a workers’ compensation claim.

The increase in employees working from home has led to an increase in workers’ compensation claims. At HGSK Injury Lawyers, our Lancaster personal injury lawyers know that understanding your rights empowers you to make legally sound decisions. As always, our legal team is available to keep you informed of your rights.

Were You Working in the Course and Scope of Your Employment?

The activity that caused your injury must have been part of your job duties. Take, for example, if you go outside to get company files out of your car and slip on ice while retrieving them. The ice buildup was caused by your neighbor’s downspout, which ran over onto your property and refroze. In this case, you may be able to find liability with both your neighbor (based on negligence) and your employer (since you were injured while performing a job-related task).

Did Your Employer Approve the Activity?

Working from home brings its own set of challenges, which includes proving that the activity resulting in injury was essential to your job. While your co-workers or your supervisor are likely to witness an on-site accident, you probably won’t have anyone to corroborate your story when you are injured working remotely. This is why documenting the date/time and prior events leading up to your injury are key to recovery in work-from-home accidents.

Subrogation

If you are collecting workers’ comp and also win your personal injury lawsuit, the workers’ compensation insurer may ask to be reimbursed. This is done through the insurer filing a subrogation claim. Under the law, you are not entitled to “double dip” if you have been awarded damages by one party while receiving benefits from another. Subrogation prevents this by placing a lien on your recovery. Subrogation applies to any damages you received, including medical bills, lost wages, and other benefits.

While it may seem like you are losing money by paying back the workers’ comp insurer, that is highly unlikely. A personal injury claim allows you to receive 100% of your lost wages, as opposed to a workers’ compensation claim, which reimburses you for roughly 2/3 of your lost wages. Also, a personal injury claim enables you to recover pain and suffering damages, which are not available in a workers’ comp claim.

In the end, you will still come out ahead. The subrogation process can be intimidating, and you should not assume that your insurer is entitled to reimbursement simply by filing a claim. To ensure you are making informed decisions along the way, speak with our Lancaster personal injury attorneys today.

Contact Our Lancaster Personal Injury Lawyers Today

Many of us sacrifice time with family and friends for our jobs, but that does not mean you should sacrifice your health as well. At HGSK Injury Lawyers, our Lancaster personal injury attorneys are dedicated to helping injured employees recoup maximum damages. To learn the true worth of your work-from-home accident case, contact our office online or by phone at (267) 551-8782 today.