What Qualifies as a Permanent Injury in Illinois?

Accidents of all kinds can lead to injury. But sometimes the injury is more serious and leaves you permanently or partially disabled. Depending on the injury, you might not be able to return to work or lack a feeling of normalcy anymore in your daily life. Your life has completely changed because of this permanent injury, so what does that mean for you moving forward?

Permanent Injuries

A permanent injury can be considered a permanent disability, which means your movement or abilities are more limited than before. If you’ve been permanently injured, you deserve compensation since you might not be able to work anymore. A serious injury drastically changes the rest of your life, so you’ll have a lot of adjustments to make from here on out. Here are some examples that qualify as permanent disability injuries:

• Hearing loss
• Loss of use or amputation of both hands, arms, feet, legs, or eyes
• Disfigurement
• Injury causing death

Some serious injuries result in being fully permanently disabled, and others are permanent but partial. Permanent partial injuries include losses of:

• Thumb or other fingers
• Big toe or little toes
• Hand or arm
• Foot or leg

While all of these injuries are serious, some are taken more seriously than others when it comes to compensation. The severity of the injury depends on the diagnosis from the doctor and if they believe you will be able to return to work at all. Whether or not you can return to work affects the amount of compensation you can receive if the injury happened at work.

Filing for Compensation

When you get seriously hurt, you’ll want compensation for your injuries. Here are some of the most common ways to receive a permanent injury:

• Workplace injury
• Car accident
• Medical malpractice

If a serious injury occurs at work, you are covered by the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. Your employer is legally obligated to have insurance covering your injury. After an injury at work, you have 45 days to inform your employer of your injury to get maximum benefits. If you fail to inform your employer within that limit, you have 3 years to get any benefits at all, according to the statute of limitations.

Depending on the schedule of the injury, compensation will be determined in a number of weeks. If you are permanently partially disabled, your employer will compensate for no less than 66.6% of your weekly pay for each week you cannot return to work. If you are permanently totally disabled, you receive 100%. As an employee, you are considered partially disabled if you will eventually return to work, and fully disabled if you are unable to return to work.

If the permanent injury occurred during a car accident, the driver at fault for the accident is responsible for your compensation. Since Illinois is an at-fault state, compensation could be adjusted by the percentage you were at fault for an accident. Just like any other claim from a car accident, they could be liable to pay for your medical bills, lost wages, and other damages to any property.

When a permanent injury is the result of medical malpractice, you would file a personal injury claim. A doctor’s care should not result in a serious injury that disables you, but if the doctor is negligent, that’s exactly what happens. Since doctors and medical professionals are supposed to uphold a standard of care, you have the right to compensation if they cause a permanent injury.

Thomas Law Offices Is Here to Help

Your permanent injury could leave you totally disabled and unable to return to work. Without an income, how can you pay your medical bills, other bills, provide for yourself, or provide for your family? That’s where Thomas Law Offices comes in. Our personal injury lawyers in Chicago can help you file your claim to get the compensation you need and deserve. Reach out today so that we can start supporting you through this life-changing time.