What is an Intervening Injury?

An intervening injury is a secondary injury that aggregates a previous injury. Insurance carriers often try to avoid paying for a substantial workers’ compensation claim. If a worker has a work injury, then another incident (an intervening injury) makes your original injury worse, insurance carriers sometimes use that as an excuse to restrict medical treatment and limit wage loss payments for time away from work, as well as permanent disability benefits. Proving an intervening injury can be difficult, which is why the people of Charleston trust the injury lawyers at The Clore Law Group LLC.

If you are being questioned by your employer and the insurance carrier about an intervening injury, you need to talk to someone who is thoroughly familiar with South Carolina workers’ compensation law and with how intervening injury cases are handled. The Clore Law Group in Charleston has protected workers’ rights for years. Call today and talk with an experienced Charleston workers’ compensation attorney.

Two types of Intervening Injury

There are two types of intervening causes:
• Dependent intervening injury causes are set in motion by the defendant and will usually not relieve the third party of liability.
• Independent intervening injury causes are events that arise totally independent of any action by the third party. If it is unforeseeable and causes the harm, it relieves the third party of liability.

When an intervening injury stalls your recovery …

A lot depends on how and why the intervening injury happened. If you were recovering from a workplace injury and then had another injury from a recreational activity, the intervening injury and the damage it caused would probably not be covered by workers’ compensation.

But what if your back was injured in physical therapy that was necessary because of the original on-the-job injury? You would not have been in physical therapy if not for the original injury. What if you sneezed and it aggravated the original injury and extended your medical treatment? Your body’s actions should not be considered an intervening injury.

Charleston Lawyers representing Intervening Injury Law Suits

You need to know your rights, and the best way to do that is with a free consultation with a workers’ compensation lawyer.  Call 843-722-8070 for a free case evaluation. You may also fill out the e-mail form on the right and a representative from their office will be in touch with you shortly regarding your intervening injury workers’ compensation claim.