Workers Compensation and scars of the face and neck

Asked in Pottstown, PA , on Jul 22, 2015

Question concerns wether or not workers compensation will automatically pay additional monies for lacerations to the face or neck? I recently had to have surgery to my neck and I have a scar above the shirt line. Yesterday my son suffered a pretty long laceration on his nose (surgeon lost count of stitches), which like myself, is a result of a work related injury.
I’m wondering if there is such a compensation for scars, and is this something that is automatically paid, or is this something that must be handled by an attorney?

Answered on Jul 22, 2015

Unfortunately, in my experience, nothing is automatic with the insurance companies. I just had a client who waited to long after a neck surgery (cervical discectomy) and was paid the disability but not the scarring. It is usually a fight. Some people use a rule of thumb that you may be paid 10 weeks for each inch of scarring, but often times you can do better by pointing to comparative cases that have already been decided – there are 100’s of them. Good luck to you both, don’t let the insurance company off the hook, they have an obligation and you should push for what you deserve.