As most of you are aware, John McPhilbin, the Injured Workers Support Network and ourselves (aworkcovervictimsdiary.com) have been receiving numerous emails and calls asking for clarification and assistance with claims surrounding the new WorkCover NSW laws. John kindly asked WorkCover NSW for some clarification…
WorkCover NSW response to the legislation changes
John McPhilbin’s inquiry to WorkCover NSW
I’ve been receiving numerous calls asking for clarification and assistance with claims surrounding the new WorkCover laws. Could you please provide me with contact details that will help aid many of the distressed callers we are attempting to help? Kind regards
WorkCover NSW reply
Dear John,
Thank you for your enquiry regarding the changes to the workers compensation legislation in New South Wales.
The Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2012 and the Safety, Return to Work and Support Board Bill 2012 were passed by Parliament on Friday 22 June 2012 and assented on Wednesday 27th June.
The new workers compensation laws change the way workers compensation benefits claims are assessed and paid.
Some of the changes have already taken effect. These include arrangements for journey claims, lump sum payments, nervous shock, heart attack and stroke and disease injuries.
The remaining changes will come into effect gradually over the next 12 to 18 months.
Special arrangements will apply to people who are already receiving weekly payments immediately prior to commencement of the new arrangements.
The changes depend on the length of time people have been receiving payments and their level of work capacity. Some features of the special transitional arrangements are:
- during the first 26 weeks of incapacity payments, the amount paid will be the same as under the existing rules;
- claimants who have already received 26 weeks of payments, and have an ongoing entitlement, will be paid according to a transitional rate (subject to a work capacity assessment) that is significantly more than the current basic rate of payment; and
- existing weekly payment rules will continue to apply until the person has undergone an individual work capacity assessment.
Injured workers will be given three months’ notice by their Scheme agent of any changes to their weekly benefits due to the new laws.
The most seriously injured workers will not be subject to work capacity assessments unless they wish to have one.
A brochure, fact sheet and frequently asked questions are available on our website, www.workcover.nsw.gov.au.
Further information will be posted as it becomes available. Regards, D. Henley
on behalf of Contact mailbox WorkCover Information Centre phone 13 10 50 WorkCover NSW
As John points out, according to this response, injured workers are currently protected until they undergo capacity assessments – which is also likely take some time to comp.
View the workcover factsheet and the workcover NSW FAQ sheet here
Shortlink: http://wp.me/p1MA9G-2Oz
Received via email:
“In regard to article re workcover and that all injured
Workers would get 3 months notice my benefits went from
691 to 659 today without notice from Allianz.
Does this mean Allianz is rorting systems and
Nothing gets done ?
Any Ideas on how to deal with them re this matter ?”
—-
We would suggest that anyone whose weekly pay has been decreased without explanation refers and quotes the above email we (John Mc Philbin) received from WorkCover NSW. Signed by D. Henley. The email was dated Fri, 6 Jul 2012 03:07:44
Wow, talk about having the rug taken from under you suddenly. I am in total shock! I feel bad for any young Australian about to enter the work force. I was just informed after the work capacity assessment, that I will be loosing more than half of my fortnightly earnings. I injured my back from Plastering and had 2 operations. My doctor once wrote me a certificate that said “never to work again” . It was knocked back by the insurance company and he then had to change it to “unfit for work” certificates every 6 months. That went on for more than 12 yrs. Now my doctor has all of a sudden agreed with the insurance doctors and stated I am now fit for 38 hrs per week. How can this happen. For 18 yrs I have received the statutory rate and have struggled on that amount. Now I will get paid less than half that which only just gets me and my family by each week as it is. The cost of living in NSW is through the roof and my family and I have survived on the poverty line with all our various financial commitments only just . Now I am about to find out what struggle is all about. I no longer trust doctors or the government. They can change your life in the blink of an eye. What happens to all the institutions I am in debt to? Is the government going to pay them off for me. I cannot afford to live in my rental property now and there is no way I am going to find 38 hrs a week work in my physical condition, in a small coastal town. Sorry for whinging as much as I have but I am in dire straights now. Insurance companies are the biggest rip-offs known to man and the government is gladly making it even easier for them to prosper while the injured battler suffers with out any help in sight.
If you want to get your solicitor involved, you now have to pay for it yourself. Doctors are being forced into it somehow in my opinion, and even your own solicitor can’t defend you without it costing an arm and a leg. Nothing, absolutely nothing any of us can do.
Not bloody happy