What Do You Need to Do to Get Permanent Total Disability?

 Posted on October 21, 2024 in Personal Injury

Illnesses, injuries, and other health or mental conditions can make working to earn an income impossible. Disabled individuals often have a difficult time providing for themselves and their families. Whether your disability results from genetics, a personal injury accident, or another cause, you may qualify for benefits provided by the Social Security Administration. If a work injury caused your disability, you may qualify for workers’ compensation disability benefits.

How do you know whether you qualify for permanent total disability? How can you get benefits? Working with a skilled attorney from Grauer & Kriegel, LLC can decrease your stress and increase your likelihood of being approved.

What Is Permanent Total Disability?

Disabilities can be partial or total, temporary or permanent:

• Partial: An impairment prevents full-time work.
• Total: An impairment prevents any work.
• Temporary: The impairment affects working for a short period.
• Permanent: The impairment prevents returning to work at all.

Permanent total disability makes a worker incapable of ever working in any capacity.

Who Qualifies for Permanent Total Disability?

Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance can provide benefits to individuals who cannot work, but there are various restrictions and requirements set by the Social Security Administration. To qualify, you must:

• Have a qualifying disability that prevents you from earning an income sufficient to provide for your needs
• Have a disability expected to affect your ability to work for at least one year or that is expected to lead to your death
• Be unable to perform substantial gainful activity due to your disability

Your condition may be neurological or immune system disorders, cardiovascular issues, back injury, severe depression, or cancer. A full list of impairments can be found on the SSA website.

To receive workers’ comp permanent total disability, employees must meet one of these conditions:

• Lost or lost total use of hands, feet, arms, legs, or eyes in a workplace accident
• Your doctor places permanent restrictions on your movement after maximum medical improvement from a work-related injury
• Be unable to do any work in a position with reasonably stable employment

Workers’ comp permanent total disability benefits should pay you 2/3 of your average weekly wages.

Although you may qualify for SSDI benefits, the application process is often overwhelming. Workers’ comp insurers will likely try to sabotage your claim to avoid paying. Many applications are denied, leaving disabled individuals struggling to pay their bills. An experienced attorney from Grauer & Kriegel, LLC can help you file your claim, provide supporting evidence, and appeal denials.

What Should I Do If I Think I Qualify for SSDI or Workers’ Comp Benefits?

To receive SSDI or workers’ comp PTD benefits, you must complete an application and provide supporting evidence, such as medical records or a journal detailing how your disability has affected you over time. For workers’ comp claims, you must be able to prove that your disability originated at work.

Unfortunately, even if you do everything right, your request may be denied. It usually takes the assistance of a knowledgeable attorney to secure the benefits you deserve.  

Call Our Skilled Schaumburg, IL Social Security Disability Lawyers

When you can no longer work due to a disability, you deserve to receive benefits. Grauer & Kriegel, LLC can help you with Social Security or workers’ comp permanent total disability cases. Call 847-240-9010 for your free consultation with our dedicated DuPage County, IL workers’ compensation attorneys.