By: Russell Keener  —  February 10, 2011
 

what is it worth? When I eval­u­ate a case for set­tle­ment the actual “value” of a lost body part is only a small part of the total value of the claim. The key ques­tions have to do with your future employ­ment his­tory and what your med­ical providers tell me we can expect in the future for your case.  But, one fac­tor in deter­min­ing the value of the claim is the value of what is called per­ma­nent par­tial dis­abil­ity (PPD for short).

Many body parts have been assigned a weekly value rat­ing. A leg is worth more than a hand, a hand is worth more than a toe, an arm is worth more than a foot and the whole body is worth most of all. In Geor­gia, by law, a leg is wroth 225 weeks of your weekly ben­e­fit check. A Foot is worth 135 weeks, a Great Toe is worth 30 weeks an ear is worth 75 weeks, etc. etc.

The imbal­ance comes in when there is a dif­fer­ence in earn­ing capac­ity. 100 weeks of some­one who has a weekly ben­e­fit of $500 is $50,000 and 100 weeks of some­one who has a weekly ben­e­fit of $85 is only $8,500. Same body part, same injury, just two dif­fer­ent folks mak­ing dif­fer­ent amounts of income.

Doesn’t sound fair does it? I mean, first of all, nobody is going to want to give up ANY body part for any amount of money. But, when the body part is lost, this is how the PPD cal­cu­la­tion is done. High income earn­ers sim­ply have a more valu­able case than low income earn­ers because the expo­sure of the employer/insurer is higher. Not fair, but that’s the way the law is writ­ten in Georgia.

But, again, the PPD value is only a small por­tion of the value of your claim. DO NOT allow the insur­ance com­pany to low-ball you and only pay you the PPD value for your claim. Call an expe­ri­enced attor­ney  to help you eval­u­ate the proper set­tle­ment value for your claim. Whether you call it work­ers com­pen­sa­tion, workman’s com­pen­sa­tion, work­ers comp or work comp, pro­tect your rights and get advice that will help you get the FULL value of your claim.

If you or a loved one has suf­fered an ampu­ta­tion due to a job injury call the Keener Law Firm for a free con­fi­den­tial con­sul­ta­tion:  770–955-3000