With construction ramping up across Iowa this spring, workers are reminded to take precautions when working at construction sites to avoid injury. Construction workers are at higher risk for falls when working from heights such as rooftops or ladders. Because construction sites have a lot of moving parts such as machinery or vehicles, they are also at risk for struck by or against injuries. When workers are injured at work, many do not realize they may not only have a workers’ compensation claim but also a third party negligence claim that can provide coverage for damages that workers’ comp does not provide.
What is the difference between a workers’ compensation claim and a third party personal injury claim?
If you are injured at work, workers’ compensation is a claim against your employer to recover wages and payment of medical bills. A third party claim, on the other hand, is against someone other than your employer who is also responsible for your injury, allowing you to recover damages beyond medical bills and wage benefits to include pain and suffering, lost wages and future wages, and other damages that are not covered by workers’ comp.
Let’s say, for example, a roofer from company A is injured after falling through an unsecured hole left by a skylight installation company (company B). The roofer can make a workers’ compensation claim with his or her employer (company A), but may also have a claim against the skylight company (company B) for neglecting to secure, cover, or provide warning of the hole that resulted in the injury to the company A employee.
It is in your best interests to work with an attorney who can not only handle your Iowa workers’ compensation claim but also your third party personal injury claims so that you will receive the maximum benefits that are available. Contact the Des Moines workers’ compensation, personal injury attorneys of Stoltze & Stoltze PLC at 515-244-1473 if you or a family member has been injured on the job. We offer free consultations and we have helped many Iowans recover all the benefits they are entitled to when they are injured on the job.
