In Illinois, there is a piece of legislation called Illinois Workers Compensation Act, but some people are still not sure whether they are covered by that Act when they get injured.
This Act is applicable to only those who suffered accidental injuries or death during the course of employment within and without the state of Illinois. “Without” here means individuals working outside of Illinois but the employment contract was made in Illinois. Its primary aim is to promote the general welfare of the people in this Midwestern state through the provision of compensation for accidental injuries or death suffered during the course of employment.
When a worker gets hurt and seeks compensation, the attorney’s chances of winning is basically based on whether he or she can prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accident or accidental injury arose out of and in the course of the worker’s employment.
It’s not easy, of course, because the attorney from the insurance firm will argue that the injury did not meet stipulated requirements.
The bottom line is that if the worker wins the case, the compensation can be quite hefty, depending on the kind of injury suffered. So, engaging an experienced compensation lawyer would be worthwhile.
The key element in such cases is that the accident must arise out of employment, and the attorney must keep records of the place where it happened, the time it happened and how it happened. He must show to the court that the injury arose due to a risk connected to or incidental to the work the worker was doing.
Take note that it is not enough to state that the accident happened, and that it happened at the workplace. The compensation attorney must prove that it happened while the worker was discharging a duty or performing work required of him by his or her employer.
If the injury happened when the worker was doing his own personal stuff, then he wouldn’t be covered by the Illinois Workers Compensation Act. The case will be thrown out.
But even if the compensation lawyer can prove that the injury accident happened out of and in the course of employment, the insurance company won’t give up that easily. They will focus on other issues, such as the worker having some form of disability, was suicidal, had stroke, was assaulted or intoxicated at the time of the accident.
The insurance company may also want to dispute injuries occurring during social events, accidents happening in vehicles while going to or coming back from work, or injuries happening during lunch hour. They will throw every argument they can think of into the case to prevent having to pay compensation, and so that is why the worker must engage an experienced compensation attorney to fight his or her case.