Licensed in Missouri and Kansas

Permanent Total Disability

If you are hurt at work in Missouri and you have a major injury, you may be a candidate for a permanent total disability award in your Missouri workers' compensation claim. Missouri's comp system provides benefits for the degree of impairment you have after an injury. Sometimes, no matter how much medical care you get (surgery, physical therapy, etc.), you're just not as good as you were before; you have at least some degree of permanent impairment. This is called permanent partial disability in Missouri. In these cases, you still have some use of the injured body part.

Sometimes, though, your injury is so severe that the disability is no longer partial, but rather permanent. In these cases, you no longer have any use for the injured body part. If this impairment costs you your job and makes you unemployable, then you may be entitled to weekly payments from the workers' compensation carrier for your lifetime.

These cases require proof, however, that you are unemployable in any capacity because of your injury. This requires the testimony of an expert called a vocational rehabilitation specialist. These experts are familiar with job requirements, the job market, and what training is required to make someone employable. They can testify whether a person's injury, combined with their education and skill level, make them employable. If they are not, then they likely entitled to weekly payments for their lifetime.

If you've been injured on the job in Missouri and your injury is so severe that you lost your job, you may be entitled to lifetime weekly payments. A Kansas City personal injury lawyer from our firm handle Missouri workers' compensation cases and will be able to help you with your claim.

Categories: