Don’t Give Up

Don’t Give Up

Do you live in Alabama+ and you been denied Social Security Disability benefits, or been told that your workers’ comp claim has been denied?  What next?  DON’T GIVE UP!

Many people believe that their initial application for Social Security Disability Benefits was reviewed in detail and that a denial of benefits means that they are not entitled to benefits, so they forgo taking any steps to appeal the denial; this is a mistake. The majority of persons who apply for Social Security Disability benefits are denied after their initial application. Often the Social Security Administration makes their initial decision without receiving all your medical records and the Administration simply does not have the resources to contact your main treating physicians to ask the detailed questions needed concerning your condition(s). The fact is that your best chance at being awarded disability benefits is after your appeal.

As for workers’ compensation claim being denied, I could not count the number of times I have had a  client come in who was injured at work, but was informed that workers’ comp was refusing to accept liability because 20 years earlier the worker had hurt the same body part while playing High School basketball or in an automobile accident.  The workers’ comp adjuster claims that the injured workers’ disability is due to the workers’ pre-existing condition and therefore not covered under Alabama’s Workers’ Compensation Laws.  This defense rarely works because in Alabama, if a worker has a pre-existing condition which has not stopped them from being able to adequately perform their job duties, the law views the condition as being irrelevant.  If you can do your job duties and a job accident worsens an underlying condition, then workers’ compensation has to pick up liability for the worsened condition.  This is because under Alabama’s Workers’ Compensation Statute, a job injury does not have to be the sole, or even the main, cause of an injured workers’ disability; the job injury just has to be a contributing factor in the disability.  Thus, if a work injury combines with or aggravates a pre-existing condition (which has not prevented the worker from performing their job duties in a normal manner) to cause a disability or death, then the workers’ compensation insurance carrier is liable for said disability/death.

If your claim for Social Security Disability or Workers’ Compensation benefits has been denied, don’t give up, contact and speak with one of the experienced Alabama Disability Attorney and Workers’ Compensation Attorneys at Powell and Denny today for a free consultation.  Virtual appointments are available through Zoom to better protect you from the coronavirus pandemic.

Powell and Denny: We Work When You Can’t

Offices in Birmingham, Alabama and Huntsville, AL

Alabama Disability Attorneys

Birmingham Social Security Disability Attorneys

Huntsville Social Security Disability Attorneys

Alabama Workers Compensation Attorneys

Birmingham Workers’ Compensation Lawyers

Huntsville Workers’ Compensation Attorneys

 

Powell and Denny have been selected as one of the Best Law Firms by U.S. News and World Report for each of the last 6 years, have been selected as one of Birmingham’s Top Lawyers by B-Metro Magazine for the last 3 years, have been selected by The National Advocates as one of the Top 20 Workers’ Compensation Firms (plaintiffs) and Powell and Denny, P.C.-has been selected as one of the “Best of the Best” law firms by The American Registry.

Mr. Denny is AV rated by Martindale Hubbard (the highest rating possible) and Mr. Powell has been rated as Superior by The National Registry

+ Powell and Denny have successfully represented clients from Birmingham, Huntsville, Florence, Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia, Athens, Decatur, Town Creek Ardmore, Hartselle, Madison, Toney, Scottsboro, Ft. Payne, New Hope, Guntersville, Albertville, Boaz, Ashville, Anniston, Gadsden, Cullman, Jasper, Gardendale, Morris, Kimberly, Centerpoint, Leeds, Tarrant City, Fairfield, Hueytown, Bessemer, Adger, Tuscaloosa, Cordova, Alabaster, Pelham, Harpersville, Opelika, Phenix City, Montgomery, Clanton, Calera, Enterprise, Monroeville, Mobile, Evergreen and towns and cities in between.

Don’t Give Up