How Personal Injury Cases And Workers' Compensation Cases Are Different

If you are injured while on the job, you may be wondering if your injury falls under workers' compensation or a potential personal injury claim. Here is what you need to know about how the two are different in terms of fault and compensation.

Personal Injuries Require Fault

The biggest difference between the two cases is that personal injuries require fault. For example, if you fell at another person's home, you would have to prove that the homeowner did something that lead to your accident. The same applies to auto accidents, where you will only receive compensation if the another driver caused the accident.

To win your case in court, you must be able to prove that fault occurred. Without fault, you may not be eligible to receive any compensation to help you recover from your injury.

Workers' Compensation Injures Do Not Require Fault

When it comes to injuries while working, any employee can receive workers' compensation. You don't have to prove who is to blame, and you're still eligible to receive benefits in situations where you caused your own injury. This included cases where negligence was involved in causing the injury.

The key factor is that the injury must be directly related to working your job. You would not be eligible for workers' compensation if you are injured while commuting to work, or if you are injured during your lunch break doing a task not related to your job, such as getting a co-worker's lunch.

Personal Injuries Allow For More Types of Compensation

The compensation you can receive for personal injuries is quite different, with the biggest one being pain and suffering compensation. That is because personal injury claims lets you recover damages for every way you are suffering. This can include the earnings lost from not being able to work, earning capacity if you cannot return to your job, your medical bills, and hedonic damages just to name a few.

Since fault is not required in workers' compensation cases, it is easier for you to collect your benefits. The tradeoff is that you are not able to sue your employer or co-workers because of negligence. You will not be able to collect pain and suffering damages, but you will still receive your weekly benefit amount that will cover things such as medical bills and loss of income.

Still have questions about your injury? Be sure to speak with a lawyer so that they can clarify any concerns you may have.