The most common question we get is “what is my case worth?” The answer depends on the medical treatment you receive, the permanent nature of your injury, your need for future medical care, your age and what’s going to happen with your job including is there a job to return to.  Of course your pre and post injury wages matter too.

If you have a major injury with permanent Restrictions, your case probably has a lot of value, especially if you were earning a good wage at the time you were injured. That said, if you have permanent restrictions and a job to go back to, your case might be worth in the high five figures.  If your restrictions prevent you from going back to your old job and you have to get new work at a much lower pay rate or can’t find a job at all then your case is likely worth in the low to mid six figures.

There’s a big difference between a case worth $90,000 and a case worth $400,000.  Our goal is to get the most money in your pocket based on what your case is actually worth.

Insurance companies and some employers of course know this too.  So they will do whatever they can to make it seem as if there is a job for you because that could really cut what is paid on your case.  If you settle that job might magically disappear.

If you’ve been working as the head of a maintenance department for years and badly hurt your back while doing heavy lifting, it’s not unreasonable to expect that your doctor would give you permanent lifting restrictions so you don’t re-injure yourself, especially if you had a surgery or two. If your employer won’t take you back and you can only find a low paying job you’d be able to get wage differential benefits.

Now imagine that you tell them your restrictions and for over a year they have no job for you.  You look for over 300 jobs on your own and can’t land one.  Your lawyer files for a trial and is going to ask that an Arbitrator says you are permanently disabled.  Two weeks before the trial the company suddenly has a job for you within your restrictions.  Not only that, it’s a job that never existed in the ten years you worked there.  Finally the Job Offer doesn’t describe what any of your job duties will be.

Does it sound fishy to you? It should. It’s clearly a sham job offer that was made to try and lower the value of your case.  And if you think that doesn’t happen, that scenario is from a real case that was recently decided.  The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission fortunately saw through all of this and didn’t punish the worker.  They decided he was permanently disabled.

Bottom line is that the insurance company will play games on your case from beginning to end and you need to look out for that.  If you have questions or want our help, click the contact us button or call us at (312) 346-5578.  We help injured workers anywhere in Illinois.