Specific Loss Benefits in Pennsylvania

Permanent Injuries & Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation

Pennsylvania workers who suffer amputations, permanent loss of use of a body part, significant hearing or vision loss, or disfiguring scarring may be entitled to specific loss benefits under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act. Paula Robinson has practiced workers’ compensation law for more than 35 years and has represented both claimants and employers, giving her direct knowledge of how insurance carriers think and how they challenge these claims. Robinson Law LLC serves injured workers across Pennsylvania. Even if you didn’t miss any time from work, a qualifying injury may still entitle you to specific loss benefits.

If you want to learn more about specific loss benefits and workers' compensation in Pennsylvania, call (215) 804-9924. Paula can answer your questions and offer helpful insight. 

How Do Specific Loss Benefits Work?

To create uniformity, the Act sets out specific categories of disfigurement and specific loss. Scarring or disfigurement must be above the clavicle to be considered. In a scarring claim, the attorney representing the injured worker, the attorney for the employer or workers’ compensation carrier, and the assigned workers’ compensation judge all review the scarring. The injured worker testifies about how the injury occurred, and the parties literally measure and describe the scarring on the record, with a court reporter making a transcript of the hearing. If the parties can’t agree on the dollar amount to settle the scarring claim, the workers’ compensation judge can decide the number of weeks at the compensation rate to arrive at a lump sum amount to be paid to the injured worker and issue a written Order and Decision.

Specific loss cases can raise several complicating issues, including statute of limitations, healing periods, and separate and distinct injuries. A Claim Petition must be filed within three years of the date of injury, and the employer must be notified of the injury within 120 days. Insurance carriers frequently challenge specific loss claims, request independent medical examinations (IMEs), and may attempt to deny or minimize a loss-of-use determination. Because Paula has sat on the employer and carrier side of the table, she understands the specific arguments and IME strategies carriers use to reduce or defeat a loss-of-use finding. She prepares your case with those tactics already in mind.

In Pennsylvania, specific loss workers' comp benefits may include:

• Benefits for loss of vision, partial or total blindness
• Benefits for loss of hearing, partial or total deafness
• Benefits for disfigurement, including dental and facial breaks and deformities
• Benefits for scarring of the neck, face, and head
• Benefits for total and partial amputations to arms, fingers, legs, and toes

Helping Eastern PA Workers Pursue Specific Loss Benefits

These injuries may or may not occur with another work injury, and even if you can continue working, you may be entitled to specific loss, hearing, or vision loss benefits. At Robinson Law LLC, we’ve helped workers pursue specific loss benefits for missing teeth, eye injuries, scarring, and partial and total loss of fingers, toes, and limbs. Many workers never file these claims simply because they don’t know they qualify. The absence of lost wages doesn’t mean the absence of a benefit, and a permanent loss deserves to be recognized and compensated under Pennsylvania law.

If you’ve suffered a specific loss injury, contact Paula Robinson for a free consultation. You’ll work directly with Paula throughout your case, not a paralegal or case manager. Call (215) 804-9924 to get started.