Houston Permanent Disability Lawyer
Workplace injuries can result in permanent disabilities that prevent you from returning to work. If that is the case, you need to ensure you receive the maximum workers’ comp benefits available for permanently disabled workers.
The Houston permanent disability lawyers at Attorney Brian White Personal Injury Lawyers help injured workers receive the worker’s comp benefits they deserve. Our top-rated, award-winning workers’ compensation lawyers have over 45 years of combined legal experience. Our legal team pursues every avenue to recover full compensation for your workplace accident or injury.
Contact our law firm to schedule a free consultation with an experienced permanent disability lawyer in Houston, TX at (713) 500-5000.
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How Our Houston Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Help You When You Sustain a Permanent Impairment
Attorney Brian White is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum and Million Dollar Advocates Form. Our law firm has recovered millions of dollars for our clients in settlements and awards.
We understand Texas workers’ compensation laws and how to use those laws to get you the money you deserve after a work injury. At Attorney Brian White Personal Injury Lawyers, our Houston workers’ compensation lawyers know the tricks used by insurance providers to undervalue disability claims. We take on large insurance companies and fight to win.
When you hire us to handle your case, you can expect us to:
- Work with medical specialists to gather evidence proving the extent and severity of your disability
- Determine the type of permanent disability benefit you are entitled to receive under workers’ compensation laws
- File claims and negotiate with the workers’ compensation company to reach a settlement
- Monitor deadlines for filing lawsuits and appeals
- Identify any third-party claims that might result in additional compensation for a permanent disability
Our team provides guidance, legal advice, and support throughout your case. We aim to put money into your hands as soon as possible while protecting your right to receive all benefits you are entitled to for your permanent disability.
Call us now to schedule your free consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation permanent disability lawyer in Houston, Texas.
What Types of Income Benefits Are Available Under Texas Workers’ Compensation Law?
The Texas Workers’ Compensation Act provides income benefits to injured employees. The type and amount of income benefits you can receive depend on your level of impairment and average weekly wages before the work-related accident.
If your work injury prevents you from working while you recover, you can receive temporary income benefits or TIBs. The temporary income benefits pay a portion of your average weekly wage while you are out of work recovering from an injury or accident.
However, a worker might be permanently disabled because of a work injury. The disability could prevent the worker from engaging in any type of work. Some disabilities are partial impairments that could affect the worker’s future earning capacity.
Texas workers’ comp laws provide three types of permanent disability benefits for injured workers.
Impairment Income Benefits (IIBs)
If your work injury results in an impairment that affects your entire body as a whole, you could be entitled to impairment income benefits. The benefits are based on the impairment rating a doctor assigns, which, in turn, is based on the percent of permanent damage the injury caused to your body as a whole.
The benefits equal three weeks for each percentage point of impairment. Therefore, if a doctor assigns you an IIB impairment rating of 50%, you receive 150 weeks of impairment income benefits.
The amount of the weekly IIB benefits equals 70% of your average weekly wage before the injury, subject to the state maximum and minimum amounts.
Supplemental Income Benefits (SIBs)
You might be eligible for supplemental income benefits. These benefits are paid monthly after your impairment income benefits end. To receive supplemental income benefits, you must meet the following criteria:
- Your impairment rating is at least 15% or higher
- You are looking for work
- You have not returned to work, or if you have, you are earning 80% or less than what you were before the injury
- You have not accepted a lump sum payment for your injury
The Texas Department of Insurance determines if you are eligible for SIBs after a permanent work injury. The Department decides if you are eligible for the first quarter, and the insurance company decides eligibility after that. The amount you receive is based on your average weekly wage before the injury and the amount of income you earn after the work injury.
Lifetime Income Benefits (LIBs)
Lifetime income benefits are paid to workers with a permanent disability covered by LIBs. Lifetime income benefits are paid when a worker experiences a covered loss involving:
- Total and permanent loss of both feet; both hands; or one foot and one hand
- Total and permanent loss of sight in both eyes
- Spinal cord injury causing permanent as well as complete paralysis of both legs; both arms, or one leg and one arm
- Physical traumatic brain injury resulting in incurable imbecility or insanity
- Third-degree burns covering over 40 percent of the body that require grafting
- Third-degree burns covering the majority of both hands or one hand and the face
The amount of lifetime impairment benefits equals 75% of your average weekly wage before the work injury, with a 3% increase each year.
Schedule a Free Consultation With Our Houston Permanent Disability Lawyers
You deserve to receive compensation when a workplace injury or accident results in a permanent disability or impairment. Contact us to schedule a free case evaluation with an experienced Houston permanent disability attorney.
