Under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, specific loss is a type of compensation that provides benefits for the permanent loss of a body part or function resulting from a work-related injury. This compensation is awarded regardless of whether the worker can return to work or not. In this essay, we will discuss the various aspects of specific loss under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act.
To be eligible for specific loss benefits, the injured worker must have suffered the permanent loss of a body part or function. This includes the loss of limbs, fingers, toes, hands, feet, eyesight, hearing, and other important body functions. The amount of compensation is the injured workers preinjury average weekly wage. The number of weeks of compensation is based upon a schedule depending on the significance of the particular body part. For example, the loss of a hand is worth more than the loss of a finger.
You cannot receive specific loss benefits and wage loss benefits at the same time. Sometimes, a claimant may return to work and then convert benefits to a specific loss. Other times an injured worker may be out of work indefinitely, but the insurance company tries to convert the injury to a specific loss to restrict how much they can receive. In that case, if there is a separate and distinct injury from the specific loss, a claimant can be successful in extending the wage loss benefits.
It is important to understand that workers’ compensation is a complicated area of the law. The insurance company has lawyers. Shouldn’t you? Call the Law Offices of James V. Monaghan for a free consultation from an attorney certified by the Pennsylvania Bar Association as a specialist in Workers’ Compensation.
