When someone is injured or killed in a preventable accident here in Indiana or Illinois, there are likely legal remedies available to both (1) the accident victim as well as (2) their loved ones established by lawmakers to provide them with justice. State and federal laws exist to help people who have been hurt or killed in all sorts of incidents, from car crashes or electrocutions, to slip and falls or exposure to toxins. Financial protections can be found through legal claims made by or on behalf of the victim that cover a range of damages (e.g., medical expenses, long-term care needs, lost wages, etc.).
The need for legal protections to help accident victims cannot be underestimated. Consider this: according to Illinois’ renowned safety agency the National Safety Council, the three most common preventable accidents alone – falls, motor vehicle accidents, and poisonings — account for 86% of all preventable deaths in this country.
It is vital that the accident victim and their family members understand what avenues for justice are available to them in seeking injury claim recompense. Are they covered by workers’ compensation law? Or is the accident covered as a civil personal injury claim? Does it make a difference?
What is Workers’ Compensation?
One legal avenue for financial justice available to accident victims is workers’ compensation insurance coverage. This is established under both state and federal legislation to protect employees hurt or killed on the job. Workers’ compensation involves legally required insurance policies being purchased by employers to provide legal protection for their employees’ injuries.
Both the State of Indiana and the State of Illinois have workers’ compensation laws on the books that mandate workers’ compensation. The federal government also has a series of laws that provide workers’ compensation protections for federal workers.
To learn more, read:
- The Jones Act vs. the Longshoreman and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act for Maritime Workers
- Work Injuries and On-the-Job Accidents in Indiana and Illinois With Federal Law Protections: FELA, Jones Act, LHWCA, DBA
- Illinois Workers Hurt in a Car Crash While Driving for Work: Legal Rights under Illinois Law
- Indiana Workers Injured in a Motor Vehicle Accident While Driving On the Job.
What is a Personal Injury Claim?
The alternative legal avenue for financial justice available to accident victims in Indiana and Illinois is the protection provided by state or federal civil law established to help people who have been personally injured by the actions of another.
Here, a formal legal claim is presented to those identified by law as being legally liable for the damages that have resulted from the incident. If the claim is not respected upon presentation, then the accident victim has the power to file a formal civil lawsuit to assert personal injury claims as defined by law.
To learn more, read:
- Can You Sue Your Hospital? Yes
- Trial Tactics for Plaintiff Semi-Truck Accident Claims: a Practical Guide from Investigation to Trial
- Bad Faith Insurance Claims in Personal Injury Cases: Indiana and Illinois
- The Importance of Accident Site Location for Personal Injury Claims in Indiana and Illinois.
Difference 1: The Need to Prove Fault
In worker’s compensation claims, the accident victim is not required to investigate the incident in order to find authenticated and admissible evidence of what caused the accident to happen. Legally, there is no requirement that the claimant provide proof of fault in order to obtain monetary compensation for the injuries sustained in the accident. This is true regardless of whether or not the victim is filing under federal workers’ compensation laws or policies provided pursuant to the state laws of Indiana or Illinois.
There is no need to prove fault for workers’ compensation protection. However, fault must be established in order to obtain relief under state and federal personal injury claims.
Personal injury lawsuits are based upon civil laws that include fault as a core element of establishing the legal responsibility of the wrongdoer to pay monetary relief to the accident victim. Defendants are only required to pay personal injury claims for accidents they have caused.
In fact, one of the major controversies in many personal injury matters is the determination of “fault” with proper evidence. Defendants, and their insurance carriers, are notorious for denying responsibility for what has happened, no matter how obvious it may be.
For more, read:
- Fault for A Winter Traffic Accident: Government Liability for Winter Weather Car Crash
- Liability of Coaches for Concussions
- Employer Liability for Distracted Driving Accidents in Indiana or Illinois.
Difference 2: Financial Compensation Damages Available to the Accident Victim
All workers’ compensation laws include a litany of the protections that must be provided to the accident victim who is seeking relief as a worker hurt on the job. These are the monetary damages that must be included in the employer’s workers’ compensation policy. Insurance carriers are aware of the exact types of harm that must be covered when a claim is made because they are specified in the workers’ compensation statutes. They include things like lost wages and medical care.
However, not every harm suffered by an accident victim who is hurt on the job will be covered in their workers’ compensation benefits. Critically for many victims and their loved ones, pain and suffering damages are not covered by workers’ compensation coverage.
Comparatively, personal injury claims under state and federal law can provide monetary recompense for all damages suffered by the accident victim as well as certain family members as identified by law (usually spouse and minor children). Pain and suffering damages can be awarded in a personal injury matter, as well as things like damages for lost enjoyment of life, and lost future earning capacity.
For more, read:
- Burn Injury Accident Claims: Calculating Justice for Burn Victims
- Pain Awareness: Claims to Cover an Accident Victim’s Pain Damages
- Catastrophic Injury Accidents: Special Legal Protections for Victims and Families in Indiana and Illinois.
Finding Justice for Accident Victims in Indiana and Illinois
Some may think it is easy to draw a bright line between the two roadways to justice: (1) workers’ compensation filings and (2) personal injury claims for anyone injured in an accident in Illinois or Indiana. Employees file for workers’ compensation coverage, and other accident victims seek relief under the civil personal injury laws.
However, the proper course of action to take for the accident victim and their loved ones is not always clear. For instance, there may be legal issues regarding whether or not they are considered eligible for workers’ compensation coverage, either as an “employee” or as being in the “course and scope of employment” at the time of the incident.
Other considerations may involve the actions of the employer when an employee has been hurt or killed on the job. There are times when personal injury lawsuits can provide justice to workers where companies become defendants in civil courtrooms outside of workers’ compensation programs. These can include situations where the employer’s intentional acts caused the accident, for example.
Accident victims and their loved ones have a legal right to investigate all their available legal rights and remedies under state and federal law here in Indiana and Illinois. They have a right to confirm whether or not workers’ compensation and/or personal liability laws provide them with legal protections when there has been a serious or fatal accident caused by another person or entity.
For more, read:
- Job Site Injury in Illinois or Indiana: When Accidents at Work Are Not Worker’s Compensation Claims
- Workers’ Compensation in Indiana and Illinois: Work-Related Injuries and the Fight Against Corporate Greed.
Preventable accidents are unacceptably high here in our part of the country and victims are suffering serious harm or fatal injuries as a result. Please be careful out there!
