What Compensation Can Cover
Compensation is usually divided into economic damages (measurable financial losses) and non-economic damages (the human impact of the injury). The categories available to you depend on whether you are claiming workers' compensation, bringing a third-party lawsuit, or both.
- Emergency, hospital, and ongoing medical treatment
- Rehabilitation, prosthetics, and specialist equipment
- Future medical and long-term care costs
- Lost wages during recovery
- Reduced future earning capacity where you cannot return to the same work
- Pain and suffering (in third-party claims, where state law allows)
- Disability and disfigurement
- Wrongful death damages where an accident is fatal
How Compensation Is Calculated
Economic damages are built from documented costs and projected future losses. Medical bills, wage records, and expert evidence on future care needs and lost earning capacity form the backbone of the calculation. In serious cases, medical and economic experts quantify lifetime costs.
Non-economic damages — pain, suffering, disability, and disfigurement — are harder to quantify and vary by jurisdiction. Their value depends on the severity and permanence of the injury and how well the case is documented and presented. You can get a rough illustration using our compensation calculator, then a case-specific figure from an attorney.
Workers' Compensation vs a Third-Party Claim
Most injured workers start with workers' compensation — a no-fault system that pays medical costs and partial wage replacement regardless of who caused the accident, but generally excludes pain and suffering and caps what you recover for lost wages.
Where a party other than your employer contributed to the accident — a contractor, an equipment manufacturer, or a site owner — a third-party claim can recover the full range of damages. In most states you can pursue both. Our guide to workers' compensation vs a lawsuit explains how the two interact.
What Affects the Value of Your Claim
- The severity and permanence of the injury
- Whether you can return to your previous job or any work
- The total documented and projected financial losses
- Whether one or more third parties are liable
- The strength of the evidence on how the accident happened
- The applicable state law on damages and comparative fault
- Available insurance policy limits and defendant assets
How an Attorney Helps Maximise Compensation
A calculator or online estimate cannot replace a proper legal assessment. An experienced industrial accident attorney investigates every potentially liable party, assembles the medical and economic evidence needed to prove the full value of the claim, and negotiates from a position of strength — with the credible option of taking the case to trial if an insurer's offer is inadequate.
To understand the cost of bringing a claim, see how contingency fees work, and read about how settlements are reached before accepting any offer.
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