Tampa Workers’ Compensation Attorney
When a workplace injury takes you off the job, the gap between what workers’ compensation is supposed to do and what employers and their insurers actually do can cost you months of medical care and income. A Tampa workers comp attorney at Kobal Law works to close that gap, making sure every benefit you are owed under Florida law is pursued, documented, and collected. Jason Kobal has spent 18 years representing injured workers in Tampa and throughout Florida, and he was recognized by his peers as the number one workers’ compensation attorney in the Tampa Bay Area.
What Florida Workers’ Compensation Actually Covers, and Where It Falls Short
Florida’s workers’ compensation system is designed to replace a portion of your wages and cover all reasonable and necessary medical care related to a workplace injury. In practice, the system has built-in pressure points that insurers exploit. An adjuster may argue your injury predated the accident, that the accident happened off-site or off-clock, or that the treating physician’s recommended care exceeds what the insurer considers medically necessary. Each of those arguments, if left unanswered, can result in denied treatment, reduced wage replacement, or a lump-sum settlement offer that does not reflect the real cost of your injury.
The medical piece is particularly complicated in Florida. Under the workers’ comp system, the insurance company selects your authorized treating physician. That physician works within a network that the insurer has contracted with, which can create subtle pressure against recommending the most aggressive or expensive course of treatment. If you disagree with the authorized physician’s assessment, there are procedures for requesting an independent medical examination, but those procedures have deadlines and requirements that injured workers frequently miss without legal help. Understanding what you are entitled to, and how to enforce it, is not something a first-time claimant should work through on their own.
What Does Workers’ Compensation Insurance Pay For?
Workers’ compensation benefits come primarily in the form of medical expenses and wage replacement. Regarding medical expenses, workers’ comp is expected to pay for all of your medical care for as long as it is needed after an on-the-job injury. Your employer’s insurance carrier may dispute how much care you need or for how long, and they may force you to undergo an Independent Medical Examination in an attempt to cut off benefits early. Your workers’ compensation attorney will know how to respond to these attacks on your benefits.
The amount and duration of wage replacement benefits depend on your injury. Common wage loss benefits include:
Temporary Total Disability – TTD benefits equal 66% of your regular wages up to a weekly maximum, for the duration of your disability or up to 104 weeks. In the case of some severe injuries, you can receive as much as 80% of your regular wages for as long as six months.
Temporary Partial Disability – If you are able to work on a restricted or light duty assignment but at lower pay below 80% of your pre-injury wage, TPD benefits will make up the difference.
Once you’ve reached a level of maximum medical improvement, if you are still disabled, you may be eligible for permanent total disability benefits based on your impairment rating. You may be eligible for Social Security Disability as well. SSD benefits are notoriously difficult to obtain, and most people who apply for social security disability are denied. Kobal Law is experienced in both workers’ compensation and social security disability law and can pursue both claims for you where applicable.
Can I Sue For Damages If Someone Else Is At Fault For The Accident?
Because there is a workers’ compensation system in place, injured workers are normally kept from filing a personal injury lawsuit, even if the accident was caused by the negligence of the employer or a co-worker. However, there are a few important instances when an injured worker may be able to file a civil lawsuit and recover not only medical expenses but also the full amount of lost wages and other legal damages such as pain and suffering. These situations include:
An uninsured employer – Employers with four or more employees are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance. In the construction industry, a construction company must provide workers’ comp with as few as just one employee. If a covered employer was not carrying workers’ compensation insurance when an accident occurred, the injured worker can sue the employer directly.
The employer intentionally caused the injury – An employer can be sued for an intentional tort that causes the injury or death of an employee. This requires proving to a high legal standard that the employer deliberately intended to injure the employee or engaged in conduct the employer knew was virtually certain to result in injury or death to the employee. This situation might arise where an employer forced an employee to work in a highly dangerous area without appropriate safety protections in place, while hiding the danger from the worker. If you think this situation applies to you, call our office to discuss pursuing a case in this challenging area of the law.
Third-party liability – A worker who is injured by the negligence of a third party can sue that third party for the damages caused by that negligence, even if the accident occurred while the employee was working. Examples include car or truck accidents that happen on duty, injuries occurring while working on a third party’s dangerously unsafe premises, or injuries caused by products that were defectively designed or defectively manufactured. If you receive both a personal injury settlement and workers’ compensation benefits, you may be required to pay back workers’ compensation, but you’ll be able to keep the rest and likely be better off than if you had not sued the negligent third party. Kobal Law can represent you in both your personal injury and your workers’ compensation claims and take both cases on a contingency fee, where you only pay if we recover compensation for you.
The Hospitals Bills That Should Never Have Reached You
One of the most underrecognized problems in Florida workers’ compensation is what happens to medical bills after a claim is filed. Florida law is clear: doctors and hospitals treating an injured worker under workers’ comp cannot directly bill that worker for the cost of care. The insurer is responsible for those charges. Despite that, billing departments routinely send statements to injured workers, and when those workers do not pay, the accounts go to collection agencies.
A collection account from a hospital bill that should have been covered by workers’ comp can damage a credit score and follow someone for years. At Kobal Law, this problem is treated as a legal violation rather than a billing inconvenience. When a provider bills an injured worker directly in violation of Florida law, that action may implicate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Jason Kobal pursues these claims on behalf of workers statewide, because the number of attorneys who focus specifically on this intersection of workers’ compensation and consumer protection is genuinely small. If you have received medical bills related to a work injury, those bills are worth a legal review regardless of whether your underlying workers’ comp claim is resolved.
When Third-Party Liability Opens a Separate and More Valuable Claim
Workers’ compensation limits what an injured worker can recover from an employer, but it does not limit recovery from third parties whose negligence contributed to the injury. In Tampa’s construction sector, distribution industry, and transportation corridors, these situations come up regularly. A construction worker hurt by defective scaffolding equipment may have a product liability claim against the manufacturer. A delivery driver injured in a collision may have a negligence claim against the at-fault driver. A worker hurt on a client’s premises may have a premises liability claim against that property owner.
These third-party claims matter because they are not subject to the same limitations as workers’ comp. They can include compensation for pain and suffering, full lost wages rather than the partial wage replacement workers’ comp provides, and other damages that the statutory workers’ comp formula simply does not account for. Filing a workers’ comp claim does not prevent a separate negligence claim against the responsible third party, but coordinating the two requires attention because proceeds from one may affect the other under Florida’s workers’ comp lien rules. Jason Kobal evaluates all available claims from the start so that nothing is left on the table by default.
Questions Tampa Injured Workers Ask Before Calling an Attorney
How long do I have to report a workplace injury in Florida?
Florida law generally requires injured workers to report a workplace injury to their employer within 30 days of the accident or within 30 days of discovering that an injury or illness is work-related. Missing this deadline can give the insurer grounds to deny your claim entirely. If you are close to or past this window, contact an attorney right away rather than assuming the claim is lost.
What if my employer says the injury wasn’t work-related?
Employers and their insurers contest the work-relatedness of injuries frequently. They may argue a pre-existing condition is to blame, that the injury occurred during a personal activity during a break, or that the activity that caused the injury was outside the scope of your job duties. These are legal and factual disputes that can be challenged. The burden is not on you to prove your case with perfect documentation before filing, but having legal representation early makes a real difference in how these disputes are handled.
Can I be fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim in Florida?
Florida law prohibits employers from retaliating against workers for filing or attempting to file a workers’ compensation claim. If you are terminated, demoted, or otherwise penalized after reporting a work injury or filing a claim, that retaliation is itself a separate legal violation with its own remedies. Document any adverse employment actions carefully and speak with an attorney about what protections may apply to your situation.
What if the insurance company offers me a settlement?
A workers’ comp settlement in Florida typically takes the form of a lump-sum payment that closes your claim, including the medical portion. Once you accept and a judge approves the settlement, you generally give up the right to future medical care under the claim. Settlement offers are often made before the full scope of an injury is known, which means accepting too early can leave you covering significant future medical costs out of pocket. An attorney can evaluate whether an offer reflects the full value of your claim before you agree to anything.
What does it cost to hire a workers’ comp attorney?
Kobal Law handles all workers’ compensation cases on a contingency fee basis. That means no fees are charged until there is a financial recovery, and if the firm is unsuccessful, you owe nothing. There is no cost to consult with Jason Kobal about your situation, and no out-of-pocket expense to get started.
Does it matter that Jason Kobal worked for insurance carriers earlier in his career?
It matters quite a bit. Having represented insurance carriers on workers’ compensation defense before switching to exclusively representing injured workers means Jason understands exactly how the other side approaches these claims, what arguments are made to limit benefits, and where those arguments have real weaknesses. That background informs how claims are built and how disputes are handled.
Do I need an attorney if my claim was approved?
A claim being approved at the outset does not mean the insurer will continue to authorize every treatment, pay every bill correctly, or calculate your wage replacement accurately. Disputes over authorized treatment, impairment ratings, and the scope of benefits arise regularly even on approved claims. Having an attorney involved from the beginning means problems are identified and addressed before they cause lasting damage to your case.
Tampa Workers’ Compensation Attorneys Dedicated to Serving the Needs of Injured Workers
Kobal Law is based in Tampa and serves injured workers throughout Hillsborough County and the surrounding region. Given the concentration of expertise in the workers’ compensation fair debt area, the firm extends that specific practice statewide. Both English and Spanish are spoken in the office. If a workplace accident has left you without income, dealing with a resistant insurance company, or opening your mail to bills that should never have been sent to you, a Tampa workers compensation attorney from Kobal Law is the right call. Reach us at 813-873-2440 for a free consultation and the kind of advice and assistance with your Florida workers’ compensation claim.
