When they suffer serious work-related injuries, Central Florida residents may be faced with trying to figure out how to replace their income.
Otherwise, being unable to work due to a permanently debilitating injury may mean that a family will suffer extreme financial hardships.
Florida’s workers’ compensation offers benefits to injured workers that will replace much of the income the worker lost because of a work-related illness or injury. However, these benefits will not necessarily cover all the income that the injured person lost.
The good news is that is that, so long as he qualifies, the injured worker can also apply for and receive Social Security disability benefits.
Going through the process of obtaining these benefits may be just what a person needs to get enough replacement income to stay afloat financially and maintain his standard of living after an injury.
Social Security payments are capped if a person receives work comp
The catch is that, for so long as a person is drawing both Social Security disability and worker’s compensation benefits, the Social Security Administration will cap payments to be sure that the worker’s combined benefits do not exceed 80% of her average work income prior to the disability.
To give an example, if a person on average earned $5,000 a month, and is receiving $3,000 a month from workers’ compensation, the most the Administration will pay her is $1,000 a month even if she is otherwise eligible to receive more. This is because the cap on benefits is $4,000, that is, 80% of the person’s average earnings.
Other types of benefits are not subject to this cap
Since our firm frequently represents disabled veterans, it is important to point out that VA benefits are not subject to this cap. An injured or ill veteran may be able to qualify for benefits through the VA and still receive a full Social Security disability payment provided he independently qualifies for it.
