Every day, people get injured due to all sorts of reasons in all sorts of places: you may fall because of a bad or uneven, or get injured because of an improperly placed object in a store or residential building, or you may be involved in a car accident and hurt yourself and/or damage your vehicle; that’s a case of personal injury claim. For this, you would do well to consult a personal injury attorney in Orlando like Bryan W Crews who can help you with getting your rightful compensation. Then there is a possibility that you may get injured at work in spite of taking all the precautions normally expected of an employee in that specific workplace – here you are entitled to file for worker’s compensation.
Though both basically involve bodily injury, there are certain differences between the two. Let’s take a look.
Basis of filing Claim
Personal Injury
The biggest difference between the two is that to file a personal injury claim, there needs to be proof of fault on the part of the premises owner, but that is not required for worker’s compensation claim. When you slip and fall, it should have happened because of the other party’s negligence: lack of maintenance or repairs, failure to post warning signs regarding wet floors or other hazards, and so on. If you slipped and fell because you were looking elsewhere and not where you were going, you won’t be entitled to a personal injury claim. After all, accidents do take place where nobody in particular is at fault. This also applies in car accidents – if the other driver was willfully negligent, you may be able to recover damages from them; an experienced car accident lawyer in Orlando can help you with this.
Workers’ Compensation
If an employee gets injured while on the job, they are entitled to worker’s compensation benefits; there is no need to prove negligence of the employer; that is, ‘fault’ is not the basis of filing this claim. You are entitled to this compensation even if you received the injury due to your own negligence.
Damages
Personal Injury
In a personal injury case you can claim damages for all of the following: medical bills including doctors fees, medicines, cost of rehabilitation therapy, etc., the emotional trauma and suffering you underwent; for loss of wages, loss of future earnings (in case of severe injuries, disability and so on), loss of relationship and enjoyment of life and so on. If you get injured in a vehicle accident or because of a slip and fall, a reputed injury attorney in Orlando, Florida can help you investigate the facts of the case and claim the damages due to you.
Workers’ Compensation
In this case, workers are only entitled to receive weekly compensation, medical bills, vocational rehabilitation costs and if applicable, permanent impairment benefits. Employees cannot claim damages for emotional suffering. This concept was born out of a compromise reached between labor unions and business owners sometime in the late 19th century to early 20th century. Prior to this, employees could only sue for negligence, and if they could not prove negligence, they could not get any compensation at all. The worker’s compensation laws don’t allow employees to use either their employees or co-workers for negligence; however, it ensures that their medical expenses are taken care of and that they receive weekly benefits.
Have you or a loved one received injuries from an accident or slip and fall? Simply call us for a free case evaluation. At Bryan W Crews, we can help you recover damages; we believe in going all the way for our clients, and if needed, we can even take your case to court to ensure you get justice. Just click below to start:
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