Were you involved in an accident at your workplace that resulted in a serious injury? If so, you're likely thinking that you have to use workers compensation to pay for your recovery. However, what do you do if your injury goes beyond what is covered with workers compensation? Here are some important things you need to know about this situation.

When Should You Bring A Lawyer Into A Workers Compensation Case?

While most workers compensation cases do not require having a lawyer work on your behalf, you should consider using a lawyer if you are having difficulties with your case. Are they pushing back on your injury? Are the doctors you are forced to see not willing to order imaging to take a look at how serious your injury is? Is your employer trying to argue that they are not responsible for your injury? These are all examples of situations where you are definitely going to need legal help to get the compensation that you deserve.

One of the benefits of working with a lawyer that specializes in workers compensation cases is that they know all of the ways that employers and insurance providers try to avoid paying out to injured employees. The lawyer is going to fight on your behalf for not only your workers compensation claim but also any additional compensation that you are owed as part of your injury. 

When Can You File A Third-Party Injury Claim?

A way that your lawyer can help get you additional compensation is through a third-party injury claim. This goes beyond what is covered with workers compensation, and many employees do not even know it is an option. They assume based on what they are told that workers compensation is their only option to receive compensation, which allows the third party to get away without paying what the employee is owed.

A workers compensation lawyer is going to look at your case and tell you if you have a valid third party injury claim on your hands. This is usually when another entity is partially at fault for your injury. For example, your employer may have been negligent about not doing equipment safety checks, which eventually caused equipment to fail and injury you. The third-party injury claim could be against the manufacturer of the equipment itself, especially if it failed and there is a potential product liability case that could help you get compensation. 

Reach out to a lawyer to learn more about workers compensation law.