When a work-related medical problem prevents you from working, your situation could be greatly improved if you are approved for benefits. Your employer's workers' comp insurance is supposed to pay you a disability salary while you remain at home and improve. Unfortunately, you may find out that doesn't always happen. Read on to find out why you might need an attorney and how to pay for it.

Problems With Claims

Just like all insurance agencies, workers' compensation firms are for-profit. They lose money when claims are approved, which means getting your claim approved can be challenging. No matter how wrong they might be to deny your claim, your financial situation only worsens while you are unable to work. You need legal help to get your claim approved and back on track, but many workers hesitate to take advantage of the very thing they need the most – an attorney – due to cost concerns.

The Contingency Plan

You may have heard personal injury advertisements touting "no fee unless we win". When someone uses an attorney in that manner, that is a contingency fee arrangement. The money to pay the attorney comes from the money they win through a settlement or a court judgment. The good news is that attorneys who practice workers' compensation law also deal with contingency fee arrangements. Contingency fee arrangements allow victims to pay attorney's fees from their lump sum payments using a percentage. If your attorney charges a contingency fee of 30%, for example, your net compensation will be reduced by that percentage, which will be paid to your attorney. This allows people who are in need of help to get that help without having to pay money to an attorney upfront before they work for you.

Your Permanent Injury Award

When you have been denied your rightful workers' compensation benefits, you may be owed a lump sum settlement that covers the gap between your injury and the present. Additionally, if you are determined to be permanently disabled due to the work accident, you will be offered a lump sum settlement. It is this sum of money that will be used to pay your workers' compensation attorney. If you are not successful in winning your case, no fee will be owed. In other words, you have nothing to lose by hiring a contingency fee attorney.

Speak to a workers' compensation lawyer about the specifics of your claim and why it was denied to find out if a contingency fee arrangement could benefit you.