If You Don’t Win There’s No Fee.
Call 1300 333 300

Everything You Need To Know About A Back Injury Claim

Anyone who has had a back injury will tell you how significantly it impacts daily life. The severe pain and restrictive movement that come with a musculoskeletal injury can make the most basic task challenging. A back injury that limits a person’s ability to work has many detrimental effects, with financial strain and employment instability causing significant stress on top of the severe pain and discomfort.

However, if the back injury occurred at work or in a road accident, the sufferer might be entitled to claim compensation. A quarter of road accident and workers compensation claims are back injury-related, and having financial support can help stabilise life while a person is in a recovery phase.

Back injuries can cause:

  • Local or generalised pain
  • Aching or discomfort
  • Hypersensitivity to touch, heat or pressure 
  • Loss of muscle flexibility and strength
  • Loss of controlled movements, posture or balance
  • Physical changes to muscle tone, skin colour and temperature, inflammation 
  • Abnormal alignment of joints, loss of joint range of motion or stability

What is a back injury?

Back injury is a broad term that encompasses many different issues, from bones and joints to muscles and tissues. While nerve damage in the back is also a common and uncomfortable problem that many people live with daily.

The list of back injuries is long, and all problems come with their own difficulties and rehabilitation.

Back injuries include:

  • Joint and ligament sprains, tears and dislocations
  • Muscle and tendon strains and tears
  • Soft tissue strains and tears

Back diseases include:

  • Joint and articular cartilage, e.g.arthropathies and arthritis
  • Spinal vertebrae and intervertebral, e.g. back pain, sciatica and disc degeneration
  • Synovium and related tissue, e.g. synovitis and tenosynovitis
  • Muscle and tendon, e.g. non-traumatic muscle or tendon strain, tendonitis and epicondylitis
  • Soft tissue, e.g. bursitis, occupational overuse syndrome

Workplace back injuries

A back injury can result from a workplace fall, slip, twist or jarring, or it can be from putting the back under stress when lifting, carrying out repetitive tasks or being in awkward positions. Bad posture habits over a long period can also create accumulated damage that is hard to rectify and even harder to live with.

Many back injuries happen at work when our bodies are constantly carrying out our daily tasks, such as moving elderly clients in residential care, sitting at a desk for long hours, and lifting heavy loads in laborious jobs.

Even though there has been a reduction in back injury compensation claims in recent times; however, they are still the most type of workplace compensation claimed. And with work habits changing dramatically over the past two years due to Covid, there is a fear that back injuries will rise due to the lack of safety practices in the working from home environment.

Road accident back injuries

Road accidents are another main offender as an accident commonly jolts the body at great force or puts the body in unnatural positions. The incident does not have to be significant to cause a painful back injury; it only takes awkward positioning and unexpected force. 

Rear-end collisions are the most common type of vehicle accident, and often the impact causes the body and head to jolt, which can cause issues with the spine, joints and muscles of the back.

How to make a back injury claim?

Claiming for a back injury can be a daunting experience. Still, the truth of the matter is that it is not as difficult as many people think, especially when you use the services of Arnold Thomas & Becker lawyers.

Some back injuries take time to develop into a severe problem, and it is not always easy to notice the signs, but these back injuries are still claimable if they result from the pressures of work. Many people do not know this, thinking a clear and obvious accident is needed to get their support.  

Whether the back injury is from a single incident or an accumulative issue, Arnold Thomas & Becker lawyers can file a compensation claim on your behalf for a stress-free process, giving our clients time to focus on their rehabilitation.

Efficient back injury claim turnaround

The turnaround time of a back injury compensation claim varies depending on how the injury occurred, such as at work or in a traffic accident, and which compensation scheme the claim is with. However, it must be said that Victorian legislation is written to deliver prompt compensation claim processing.

The best way for a quick back injury compensation claim is to use the professional service of Arnold Thomas & Becker lawyers. We have vast experience in WorkCover, TAC and Common Law compensation cases and know how to make claims on our client’s behalf to ensure an efficient process.

Don’t leave it too late to make a back injury claim

A back injury compensation claim should be lodged as soon as possible in all cases. Yet, each compensation scheme has different time limits to abide by, which Arnold Thomas & Becker lawyers will know. 

For example, the TAC scheme has a lodgement policy of up to three years, while a Common Law claim has a six-year allowance and sometimes more depending on circumstances.

In contrast, WorkCover regulations state the injured employee must notify the employer within 30 days of the injury. WorkCover also has a hard line on medical expense claims, such as medication and physiotherapist, with a maximum of six months cut off.

Arnold Thomas & Becker lawyers have a thorough understanding of all policies across all schemes, taking the stress and uncertainty away from our client’s hands for a swift and professional compensation claim process.

Ensuring you receive the entitled compensation

The amount of back injury compensation a person is to receive varies depending on many factors. The severity of the injury and how it occurred are the most significant factors in compensation calculations, while your income and time off work are also relevant. 

There are also many claimable expenses that you may be eligible for. Arnold Thomas & Becker lawyers will work through your case to ensure you receive all the compensation you are entitled to.

Claimable expenses:

  • Medical and hospital expenses
  • Treatment and rehabilitation costs
  • Wages and superannuation loss
  • Permanent impairment payout
  • Pain and suffering
  • Quality of life 
  • Legal costs

Using a professional lawyer service for a stress-free process

Knowing the different policies, schemes and entitlements is not easy and can add more pain to the back injury you are already dealing with. The fine print, legal terms and legislation variances can be overwhelming, and a slight misinterpretation or missing information can lead to, at best, long delays at worst, compensation claim rejection.

Using the professional services of Arnold Thomas & Becker lawyers will take away all the complications and uncertainty to ensure a stress-free process. We understand the ins and outs of all compensation schemes and deliver the best results for our clients time and time again.

Contact Arnold Thomas & Becker lawyers today

Arnold Thomas & Becker lawyers legal advice on back injury compensation cannot be matched, and our experience ensure efficient and problem-free processing. Contact the friendly team at Arnold Thomas & Becker lawyers today and let us take care of your back injury compensation claim so you can focus on your recovery and rehabilitation.