WORKCOVER - How the system works against you.
Posted by: Crazy_Horse666
25th Feb 2012 02:10pm
The fundamental problem with the Workcover paradigm is that it is open to coercion, manipulation and corruption by the very authorities that are assigned to manage it.
In order to practice Law or Medicine in Australia, the Practitioner is required by legislation to have insurance.
The "Agents" for Workcover are "insurance" companies. These companies are – Allianz, CGU, Gallagher Bassett, GIO, QBE, and Xchanging.
Ask yourself these questions:
1) Is it possible that your own Medical Practitioner and Solicitor is insured by one of these companies or it's affiliates?
2) Why is it that none of the law firms who handle Workcover claims will accept cash up front to handle a Workcover claim?
3) Why is it that all the law firms that deal with Workcover claims only handle a Workcover claim if it is agreed to be conducted under the "No Win - No Fee" agreement?
Read your "No Win - No Fee" contract carefully, for the answers to the abovementioned questions and my original observation are contained within. It will astound anyone who has been injured in the workplace and has sought, or is seeking compensation.
Help Caféstudy members by responding to their questions, or ask your own in Café Chat, and you will get the chance of earning extra rewards. Caféstudy will match these and donate equally to our two chosen Australian charities.
Comments 6
Mic
I was very heavily involved in OH&S before WorkCover was implemented. Without naming the Government agency, we had our own Compensation Unit (self-insured). At the time that Nick Greiner got in as premier of NSW "Inc", outsourcing was the big buzz, so we did some calculations. Our full workers' comp bill per year was $38M. This included staff, IT, filing, the lot. The best premium we could get from an outside insurer was $55M and the loss of self-insurer's licence which would probably be unobtainable again. The idiots above decided to outsource!
I am a keyboardist who types at 100+ wpm, so the loss of any finger (yes, even the LEFT thumb) would severely affect my earning capacity. As I understand the new system, even if I settle for the going rate, it will never compensate for the subsequent loss of earnings due to loss of speed and output. If either hand were injured beyond use, yes I can get a single-handed keyboard, but I'm still not going to get back to the correct earning level.
People should read "No Win, No Fee" contracts very carefully. You are still up for photocopying at $1+ per page, phone calls, correspondence etc.. In fact the only fee that is being waived is appearance in Court.
A mate's father lost the top of his thumb in the "safety guard" of a piece of machinery. He's entitled to $so much. He now has to sue the hospital because of incorrect procedures while the injury was being treated.
Insurance companies have always been slow to pay out for one very simple reason. They put your compensation on the money market until it has doubled so that they effectively pay you nothing.
ninna
I am not going to argue about yr points in this discussion other than to point out that Workcover is separate to the insurance companies. Workcover is a govt organisation that covers the safety of work places, licenses & education of safe work practices. They do inspections of workplaces if complaints are made or an accident/death occurs.
The Insurance side of it is commonly called "workers compensation" & it is not part of Workcover at all, through the insurance companies is where the worker can get treatment, settlements, rehabilitation. Because of the nature of insurance claims it is open to underhanded methods to win a situation or avoid payment in some cases.
Workcover does not have any say in the insurance side of it other than to provide inspection reports when one has been done. I have worked in Workcover so know firsthanded how their procedures work, they can only refer the client on to their insurance company or provide them with a hotline that tells them what steps to take once there has been an event causing Workcover to be involved.
Both are completely separated from the other.
Workcover = licensing & making sure safe work practices are being used
Insurance = compensation, lawyers & questionable practices to ensure a win.
Sherill
Hi Ninna, you are ALMOST correct. WorkCover NSW plays a key statutory role in both Workers Compensation & Rehabilitation AND workplace health and safety. They are responsible for: administering work health and safety, injury management, return to work and workers compensation laws and manage the workers compensation system. They oversee:
•work health and safety
•licensing and registration of high risk activities
•workers compensation insurance
•workers compensation benefits
•sustainable return to employment for injured workers
•management of the Workers Compensation Insurance Fund
WorkCover in NSW is a combined safety/Worker's Compensation regulator; in WA WorkCover is entirely Worker's Compensation. In SA they are combined also.
LastTimeLord
Hi Crazy_Horse666
did you see the statement by the former chairman of Workcover NSW that 'the government scheme' could be in deficit by as much as $5 billion in June?
littletoot
Oh so true! Sadly the other aspect that is rarely discussed is that workers who have been injured and fight really hard to go back to work with a disability are not compensated for any loss of future earning, despite the fact that most medical practitioners predict that the person will only be able to continue to work for a few years and that their condition may deteriorate. If you are of a mind to battle back to work, then after say 10 years can't continue to cope with the pain or additional burden of the disability and need to retire early you are on your own. If you don't fight to get back to work you are rewarded with compensation for loss of future earnings. What message does this give to those who are disabled due to injuries at work. If someone is disabled -regardless of the circumstances- and wishes to get a job that doesn't make as many demands on their disabilities they find that they are not able to work as they cannot get workers comp cover and no one will hire them! What happens next is that they are forced by centerlink as a condition of their pension to seek work for so many hours in order to be paid, (a cost cutting measure of the Howard government), yet they will never be employed by anyone because of the attitude to the disable and the fact they cannot get workers comp. It is such a punative system. The worst part is that the general public sneer at people on workers compensation and assume that all injured workers are conning the system. Isn't it good that we live in such a compassionate society!!!
Crazy_Horse666
That is so true!