Home             Contact Our Office
 Income Benefits
- Average Weekly Wage
- Temporary Total Disability
- Supplemental Earnings Benefits
- Permanent Partial Disability
- Permanent Total Disability
- When Should Your Benefits Start?

 Medical Benefits
- Selecting Your Doctors
- Get Your Medical Care Approved
- Second Medical Opinion
- Independent Medical Examination
- Obtaining Your Medical Records
- Emergency Medical Treatment
- Drug and Alcohol Testing
- Travel and Medication Expenses

 Filing a Claim
- Time Limits For Filing A Claim
- Termination of Benefits
- Termination of Employment
- Video Surveillance

 Injuries, Illnesses and Coverage
- Workers Compensation Injuries
- Workers Compensation Illnesses

 Louisiana Courts and Trials
- Office of Workers Compensation
- Mediation Conferences and Trials
- OWC Locations
 Vocational Rehabilitation
- Vocational Rehabilitation Services
- Functional Capacity Evaluations
- Labor Market Surveys

 What Can An Attorney Do?
- Why Do You Need A Lawyer?
- How Can A Lawyer Help?
- Fees and Costs

 Social Security Disability
- Qualifying For Disability
- Disability Determinations
- Hearings and Appeals
- Retaining An Attorney

 

z/sp 

 

WHEN SHOULD YOUR INCOME BENEFITS START

If you've been injured at work, your Louisiana Workers' Compensation indemnity benefits should be paid on the following schedule:

  • The first payment of Temporary Total Disability Benefits (TTD) or Permanent Total Disability Benefits (PTD) is due on the fourteenth day after the employer or their insurance company found out about your injury. Thereafter, you should be paid benefits weekly until you are able to return to some type of work.
      
  • To receive Supplemental Earnings Benefits, you generally must file a Form 1020 with your employer or their insurance company each month to report any income you've earned or other benefits you've received. Supplemental Earnings Benefits payments are due fourteen days after your employer or their insurer receives the form. We suggest that you send the form by certified mail or fax (with regular mail follow up) so you have confirmation of the date they received the form.
      
  • Any residual Permanent Partial Disability benefits should be paid in a lump-sum thirty days after the employer or insurer receives a medical report informing them of the permanent impairment.

If your benefits are late, you may file a claim with the Louisiana Office of Workers' Compensation and request penalties in addition to your regular benefits. You may also ask the Louisiana Workers Compensation Court to require your employer or their insurance company pay part or all of your attorneys fees so that you do not have to pay those fees directly. The Louisiana Workers' Compensation Act provides that your employer or their insurer will not owe the penalty and fees "if the claim is reasonably controverted or if such nonpayment results from conditions over which the employer or insurer had no control."

A separate part of the law controls the situation if you're already receiving weekly or monthly benefits and your employer or their Workers compensation insurance company stops paying your benefits without a good reason. If that happens, you may ask the Court to reinstate your benefits, compel the employer or insurer to pay you a penalty and also to pay your attorneys fees.

 The law states:

Any employer or insurer who at any time discontinues payment of claims due and arising under this Chapter, when such discontinuance is found to be arbitrary, capricious, or without probable cause, shall be subject to the payment of a penalty not to exceed eight thousand dollars and a reasonable attorney fee for the prosecution and collection of such claims.

This is a frequently litigated area of the law and the Louisiana Workers' Compensation Courts are often asked to decide whether an insurance company's decision to terminate a claimant's benefits was "arbitrary, capricious and without probable cause."

Next: Selecting Your Doctors

 

 

David Buie, Louisiana Workers Compensation Attorney and Social Security Disability Attorney, 650 Poydras Street, Suite 1400, New Orleans, LA 70131, (800) 851-9405 / Fax: (866) 702-5297 Representing claimants in:
Alexandria Baton Rouge Bossier City Covington Gretna
Hammond Harahan Harvey Houma Kenner Lafayette Lake Charles
Laplace Marrero Metairie Monroe New Iberia New Orleans
Opelousas Ruston Shreveport Slidell Terrytown

Call (800) 851-9405 for a
free telephone consultation
or use the form below to ask
a question about your case.
                              Name
                              Email
                         Telephone
            Your Question or Message
Hot Topics

What Can A Louisiana Workers Compensation Lawyer Do For You?


How Do You Settle
Your Louisiana Workers Compensation Case?


Coordinating Louisiana Workers Compensation & Social Security Disability


Louisiana Workers
Compensation
Blog


Louisiana Workers
Compensation Laws
& Regulations


Louisiana Workers
Compensation
Forms


Louisiana Workers
Compensation
Second Injury Fund


Louisiana Workers
Compensation
Legislative Update


Louisiana Workers
Compensation
Supreme Court Cases


Louisiana Workers
Compensation - Quick
Answers