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Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Specific Loss and Disfigurement
Benefit Amounts Vary According to Injury Type
When you suffer a serious work injury that leads to the loss of one of your body parts, you are entitled to benefits specifically for that loss. Your type of injury will determine the amount of compensation you are given; thus, losing a finger in a work accident would give you a different benefit amount than losing a leg, or losing your vision permanently. Your application for benefits must be handled correctly to ensure you get all of the benefits you need and deserve. A skilled attorney can help you file your claim properly.
GET A FREE CONSULTATION WITH LARRY PITT
The Experienced Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at Larry Pitt & Associates, P.C. Assist Clients in Filing for Specific Loss and Disfigurement Benefits
If you were injured in a workplace accident that led to the loss of one of your body parts, permanent disfigurement or the loss of bodily function, you may be entitled to collect additional benefits. Larry Pitt & Associates, P.C. can help you. Please call 888-PITT-LAW or fill out our contact form to schedule a free consultation with an experienced Philadelphia workers’ compensation lawyer about your needs. Larry Pitt & Associates helps throughout:
Disfigurement and Specific Loss Benefits
Pennsylvania workers’ compensation law states that a serious and permanent disfigurement of the head, face, or neck, the loss of a limb or other body part, or the loss of a specific bodily function, entitles a victim to compensation benefits. It is entirely possible to collect these benefits even if you do not lose any time from work. Therefore, if you lose your pinkie finger in a workplace accident, and then return to work two weeks later because your job does not require the use of your pinkie, you can still collect specific loss benefits.
What is Covered by Specific Loss and Disfigurement Benefit Awards?
Pennsylvania has a long list of what it covers and what it does not. However, some of the more common specific loss injuries and the corresponding benefit amounts include the following:
- Hand: 335 weeks
- Fingers: between 28 and 50 weeks, depending on which finger
- Thumb: 100 weeks
- Entire arm: 410 weeks
- Forearm (below the elbow): 370 weeks
- Foot: 250 weeks
- Toe: 16 weeks
- “Big” toe: 40 weeks
- Entire leg: 410 weeks
- Lower leg (below the knee): 350 weeks
- Loss of an eye: 275 weeks
- Complete hearing loss in both ears: 260 weeks
- Complete hearing loss in one ear: 60 weeks
If your injury causes permanent disfigurement, you may be awarded up to 275 weeks’ worth of benefits. Depending on the type of loss you sustain, you may also be eligible to collect disability benefits during a period of between 6 and 25 weeks (depending on the severity of your injury). If you sustain multiple losses, however, you are only entitled to collect disability for the longest healing period. For example: let us say you lose your right hand (20 weeks) and right pinkie toe (6 weeks) in a workplace accident. Your healing period would be 20 weeks in total, not 26. A knowledgeable workers’ compensation attorney can help you through the process to ensure you obtain the maximum amount of benefits and the longest healing period allowed under the law.
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