WorkCover has not accepted my knee injury. How should I appeal the decision?
If you have hurt your knee at work but WorkCover rejected your claim, you should know that this happens more often than you think. WorkCover might say that your injury is not work related. They might argue that your injury is just a long-standing degenerative condition, or that your work did not involve heavy duties which could have caused injuries.
It is entirely possible to appeal the decision.
Who do I appeal to?
This depends on what happened in your claim so far. If WorkCover Queensland has just rejected your application for compensation, then you can appeal to the Workers’ Compensation Regulator.
If the Regulator has already reviewed and confirmed WorkCover’s decision, then the appeal goes to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.
The Commission’s decision can be appealed to the Industrial Court.
Important timeframes
There are strict timeframes for filing an appeal.
To appeal to the Regulator, the appeal must be filed within 3 months of receiving WorkCover’s decision.
On the other hand, if the Regulator has already affirmed WorkCover’s decision and you want to appeal to the Commission, you only have 20 business days.
What do I need to do to win?
The outcome will probably depend on the quality of the evidence which you compile. This is where a competent lawyer can help.
Work duties
For example, assume that the dispute is whether your work involved tasks that could have caused your knee injury. You will need to provide a detailed account of your day to day duties, what you did, how, in what posture, what equipment did you use, when you felt pain and so on.
It is also likely that you will need supporting lay evidence, for example statements from colleagues who have first hand knowledge of your job and who have seen you at work.
Medical issues
Consider this example: WorkCover’s doctor says that you do have a knee condition, but it is simply a long standing degeneration. (They usually gloss over the fact that the so called long standing degeneration had not previously stopped you from working whereas now it is causing major problems).
In this situation, you will need expert medical evidence which explains how even long standing degeneration can be aggravated at work, which makes you eligible to claim.
If the matter is before the Commission, it is likely going to be necessary to cross examine WorkCover’s doctor to bring to surface the weaknesses in their opinion.
Is the appeal process complicated?
In short, yes, but especially when the matter comes before the Commission. The Commission’s process includes things like preparing facts and contentions, lists of documents, witness lists, witness summaries, expert reports, trial plans and participating in conferences.
How can Denes Lawyers help?
We are experienced personal injury lawyers. We will get together all the evidence that is required to succeed in your claim. We have access to a network of respected specialists so that we obtain the best possible medical evidence to advance your claim. In complex matters, we also regularly work with highly experienced barristers.
In all WorkCover appeals, we work on a no win no fee basis.
Next steps
Please contact our office to book an obligation free consultation with Oszkar Denes, our principal solicitor. You can read about Oszkar’s expertise here.
Free book offer: what to expect in your injury claim
Many firms try to rush you to sign up with them without carefully considering your options. We encourage you to first learn about your personal injury claim. You should ask yourself:
- How do you calculate your compensation amount?
- How should you choose your lawyer? Do you just choose by firm name regardless of who is really in charge of your matter? Has your lawyer ever argued a case in court?
- What is a no win – no fee agreement? How much will it cost?
Our book is available to you free of charge. You don’t have to be a client to receive this book. Head to the order page and we will be happy to send you a copy straight away.
25% Cap on legal costs
In all of our personal injury compensation matters, we act on a No Win – No Fee basis. What that means is, there’s no upfront cost to you.
In Queensland, most compensation firms will charge you 50% of your compensation amount – the maximum allowed at law. This is very expensive. Our fee is different. We will cap our fee at 25% . Remember also, these are the maximum fees we will charge. If our fee in your claim is less, then we charge the lesser amount.
Before you engage us, we will provide you a written Disclosure Notice and a Client Service Agreement. These documents set out in detail the service we provide, as well as our fees and outlays. Before you sign anything, you can take these documents home with you, and study them with your family. You can take as long as you need, there is never any pressure from us. If anything in these documents doesn’t make sense to you, we can discuss it with you and you are free to ask another lawyer to give you advice. And remember, no win – no fee agreements come with a 5 day cooling off period for extra peace of mind.
Liability limited by a scheme approved under professional standards legislation