Work Injuries Claims Process

Workers' Compensation Claims Process

FREE Initial Consultation | Over 100 Years of Combined Legal Experience

FREE Initial Consultation
Over 100 Years of C ombined Legal Experience

Helping Injured Iowans Get the Compensation They Deserve

At Lawyer, Dougherty & Palmer, P.L.C., we help people who have suffered work-related injuries receive the medical care and workers' compensation benefits they deserve. With more than 100 years of combined experience, our attorneys have a long track record of success.

We are committed to protecting the rights of workers in Des Moines and throughout Iowa who has suffered a wide range of injuries, from neck and back injuries and shoulder injuries to leg, knee, ankle, or foot injuries. We will help maximize your benefits when you return to work after an injury. If a loved one has suffered wrongful death due to a work-related accident, we will handle the legal matters so you and your family can focus on the grieving process.

Guiding You Through the Workers' Compensation Claims Process

Following a work-related injury, you may be confused by a workers' compensation system you do not understand. Our Des Moines workers' compensation attorneys will handle the filing of your claim and guide you through the entire process. We can assist you with the following issues relating to workers' compensation.

Notice of Injury / Statute of Limitations

Workers' Compensation Statute of Limitations

If you have suffered a work-related injury, it is important that you give notice to your employer, as soon as possible. Unless the employer has knowledge of the occurrence of the injury within ninety (90) days, you will not be able to pursue a claim for workers' compensation benefits. The safest way to give notice of an injury is in writing. Your attorney may give written notice for you. You should be aware that there are some legal exceptions to this 90-day rule (Iowa Code § 85.23-24). However, to be on the safe side, we recommend that you tell your employer and treating doctors about how, when, and where you were injured, as soon as possible. Contact Us for help!

Statutes of Limitations in Iowa Worker's Compensation Cases

Statutes of limitations are time limits in which a suit must be brought or you waive your right to any recovery. For most workers' compensation claims it is two (2) years from the date of your injury, or three (3) years from date of last payment of weekly benefits, though there are some exceptions (Iowa Code § 85.26). Contact us for help!

Statutes of limitations in Iowa Personal Injury Cases
In Iowa, an injured person has two (2) years from the date of an injury to file a lawsuit in Iowa District Court and protect their rights (Iowa Code § 614.1). Contact us for help!

What to Do If Your Benefits Have Been Denied or Cut Off

Helping You Get the Benefits You Need
A work-related injury can cause physical, financial and emotional difficulties for your family. It can be even more challenging if your benefits have been denied, not paid or cut off. If you are in this situation, an experienced attorney can help you obtain the benefits you need and deserve.

Since 1995, the lawyers of Lawyer, Dougherty & Palmer, P.L.C. have helped clients in Des Moines and throughout Iowa receive the benefits they are entitled to receive. With more than 100 years of combined legal experience, we are known for our long track record of success. To discuss your case with one of us in a free consultation, contact our Des Moines denied benefits attorneys online.

Have Your Benefits Been Denied, Not Paid or Cut Off? We Can Help
Often, an employer, or its insurance company, refuses to pay workers' compensation benefits to an injured worker, without a good reason. Sometimes, they pay less than they should for each week of workers' compensation benefits. Other times, they cut off weekly benefits too early.

If weekly workers' compensation benefits are denied, delayed or terminated, without a reasonable excuse known at the time, then penalty benefits may be sought at the hearing. The commissioner may order a penalty of up to 50% of the denied, late or terminated weekly benefits (Iowa Code § 86.13). The attorneys at Lawyer, Dougherty & Palmer, P.L.C. will help you prepare penalty claims and take them to hearing. Contact us for help!

Contact Our Central Iowa Workers' Compensation Benefits Attorneys
At Lawyer, Dougherty & Palmer, P.L.C., we are intimately familiar with all the workers' compensation laws and the ways we can best advance our clients' outcomes. Please contact us to learn how we can help you obtain the denied, unpaid or delayed benefits you deserve in a FREE consultation.

What to Do If Your Employer Exceeds Your Medical Restrictions

Protecting Your Rights in Workers' Compensation Claims
Following a work-related injury, your employer is required to adhere to the work restrictions that your doctor has prescribed. If you are asked to perform duties outside of your work restrictions, a skilled lawyer can help you assert your rights.

Has Your Employer Exceeded Your Medical Restrictions?
Some employers will disregard restrictions imposed by the doctors they have selected to care for their injured employees. The lawyers at Lawyer, Dougherty & Palmer, P.L.C. will help by contacting the employers or their insurance carriers to remind them of their obligation to provide proper care to their injured employees, including the obligation to respect the restrictions of the treating doctor.

If the employer says it cannot provide light duty after the restrictions are honored, then the employee should be placed on temporary weekly workers' compensation benefits, until his or her doctor releases him or her to return to work, with or without permanent restrictions.

At Lawyer, Dougherty & Palmer, P.L.C., our attorneys have more than 100 years of combined legal experience. We are committed to representing clients in Des Moines and throughout the state of Iowa who has been injured at work. To learn more about how we can help you, contact our Des Moines medical restrictions attorneys online.

Unpaid Medical Expenses

Get the Medical Care You Need

Following a work-related injury, you are entitled to receive medical care, including doctors' visits, surgery, dental care, hospital stays, pharmacy needs, physical therapy, and testing (Iowa Code § 85.27). If your employer does not authorize, provide or pay for this medical care, an experienced attorney may be able to help you obtain the medical care you need.

At Lawyer, Dougherty & Palmer, P.L.C., we have more than 100 years of combined experience helping clients in Des Moines and throughout the state of Iowa obtain the necessary medical care following a work-related injury. To discuss your case with one of our knowledgeable lawyers, contact our Des Moines unpaid medical expenses attorneys online.

We Can Help You With Unpaid Medical Expenses

If you have been denied medical coverage or your employer has not paid past medical expenses, our law firm can help you. Our first step is to contact the employer or its insurance company and negotiate proper medical care. If bills are unpaid, we will bring that to their attention, too.

Sometimes the employer or its insurance company refuses to authorize care. If the case has been accepted, our attorneys will file a Petition for Alternate Medical Care and ask the workers' compensation commissioner to order proper care.

If the case has been denied, we will file a petition with the commissioner, seeking medical benefits, temporary weekly benefits, and permanent partial disability benefits. If the employer or its insurer has improperly withheld, delayed or cut off benefits, we will seek penalty benefits. Contact us for help!

an injured worker filing a work injury claim form

Unemployment vs. Workers' Compensation

Can You Collect Unemployment and Workers' Compensation at the Same Time?

An injured worker may draw permanent partial disability benefits and unemployment benefits at the same time. In order to do this, an injured worker must have been released to return to work, with or without, permanent restrictions. If the worker has been released to return to work and his or her employer does not have a job for him or her, then the worker may apply for unemployment benefits. The laid-off worker must otherwise be eligible for unemployment benefits and be "ready, willing and able to work, within his or her permanent restrictions."

If a worker has not been released by the doctor and is still receiving temporary total disability benefits from his or her employer or its insurance company, then the employee may not legally receive unemployment benefits.

If you are unsure as to whether you can legally receive both workers' compensation benefits and unemployment benefits, it is important to speak with a knowledgeable lawyer. Our attorneys will help you determine your eligibility.

an injured worker being treated by a doctor

Benefits to Which You Are Entitled

An injured worker is entitled to receive several kinds of workers' compensation benefits if he or she is hurt at work. Here are some of the benefits allowed:

Medical Expenses: A worker is entitled to receive medical care when he or she is injured at work. This includes doctors, surgical, dental, hospital, pharmacy, physical therapy, and testing. In return for paying the treatment bills, the employer (or workers' compensation insurance company) decides which doctor the injured worker sees for treatment. (Iowa Code § 85.27) Your attorney may help you obtain reasonable medical care.

Medical Mileage: An injured worker is entitled to reimbursement for travel to and from medical appointments. This rate changes on an annual basis (Iowa Code § 85.27) Your attorney will help you calculate what is owed.

Temporary Benefits: Injured workers are entitled to receive weekly benefits if a doctor has taken them off work. If an injured employee is returned to work on light duty, and earns less than usual, then he or she may receive further benefits. Once the worker returns to his or her regular job, or is released from care by the doctor, then temporary benefits end. (Iowa Code § 85.33) Temporary benefits are often underpaid and your attorney will help correct any underpayments.

Permanent Partial Disability / Schedule Members: An injured worker is entitled to permanent partial disability benefits if he or she has a lasting injury to a shoulder, arm, hand, finger, thumb, leg, foot, toe or eye. These injuries are called "schedule member injuries" and benefits for them are capped under Iowa law. Doctors must provide opinions about the extent of schedule member injuries (Iowa Code § 85.34). Your attorney will seek the maximum permanent partial disability benefit allowed under Iowa law.

Shoulder Injuries: A cap was placed on the amount of permanent partial disability paid for a shoulder injury, occurring on or after July 1, 2017. This was a major change in Iowa Workers’ Compensation Law. Because a shoulder injury is no longer considered a whole body injury, this may result in a reduction of permanent partial disability benefits. Contact us to discuss this major change in Iowa workers’ compensation law and its impact on your shoulder injury claim.

Industrial Disability / Whole Body Injuries: If a worker injured his or her head, neck, back, hip, nervous system, or circulatory system, he or she has sustained an injury to the body as a whole. A worker with a whole-body injury is entitled to benefits for his or her reduced earning capacity. This loss is determined by impairment ratings, restrictions, wage reductions, inability to return to a former job and other factors. (Iowa Code § 85.34(2)(u)) Your attorney will seek the maximum industrial disability benefit allowed under Iowa law.

Permanent Total Disability: If an employee is totally disabled by a work injury, he or she may be entitled to weekly benefits for the rest of their life (Iowa Code §85.34(3)). Without assistance from an attorney, permanent total disability is very difficult to prove.

Death Benefits: When a worker is killed on the job, burial expenses, payments to the surviving spouse and / or dependents are to be made (Iowa Code §§85.28 and 85.42-44).

Interest on Overdue Benefits: Weekly benefits are to be paid when they accrue or interest is owed (Iowa Code § 85.30)

Penalty Benefits: Penalties of up to 50% may be assessed for late payment of weekly benefits if the employer or insurance company does not have a reasonable excuse (Iowa Code § 86.13). Your attorney will seek penalty benefits when appropriate.

Contact Our Central Iowa On-The-Job Injury Attorneys

The experienced attorneys of Lawyer, Dougherty & Palmer, P.L.C. are committed to helping you obtain the medical care and workers' compensation benefits you need and deserve. Contact us online or call to schedule your FREE consultation. Fee-only upon recovery!

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Fee only upon recovery!