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| WORKERS'
COMPENSATION LAWYERS |
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Parker Scheer LLP
Boston Office
1 Constitution Plz
Boston, Massachusetts
02129
Directions
Phone: 617-886-0500
Fax: 617-886-0100
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The Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Act
has undergone considerable change over the past 15 years.
Insurers have been provided with more means than ever before
to defend cases and reduce costs. Perhaps none is more harmful
than insurance companies' rights to recoupment.
The term recoupment means just that. An insurance
company, which has made overpayments, has been granted a statutory
right to recoup, that is, recover, overpayment of benefits.
These overpayments most often occur through no fault of the
injured workers who are struggling to make ends meet in a
very trying time.
Overpayments occur in several ways. An employer
may erroneously overstate the wages earned by an employer
before an injury. As these payments form the basis upon which
weekly compensation checks are calculated, the reporting of
a higher amount can result in an overpayment which the insurer
can recoup by reducing weekly checks as much as 30% until
the overpayment is recovered. This has a dramatic effect on
the weekly payment as the insurer reduces weekly payments
to reflect the accurate wages, and then further reduces the
payment by 30% to make its recovery. Employees who face this
dilemma must carefully monitor the insurance company to be
sure that it returns to the proper rate of payment after recoupment.
The second most common incidence of overpayments
results when workers' compensation paid under an order of
an Administrative Judge is overturned in a subsequent proceeding.
Insurers have a right to seek to recover the funds paid under
that order. This right is not absolute, however, as the judge
who issued the order has discretion to limit recovery, or
deny it in its entirety.
The Reviewing Board of the Department of Industrial
Accidents, in a decision which helps level the playing field,
has ruled that an award of attorneys' fees to the employee’s
lawyer may be made when an injured worker successfully defends
a claim of recoupment by an insurer. This ruling may temper
attempts by insurers to recover funds from a vulnerable employee
who did not contribute to the overpayment.
To speak with a highly experienced workers’
compensation lawyer, click
here, or telephone Parker Scheer LLP seven days
a week, toll free at 886-414-0400. There is no fee charged
to discuss your case, and all information furnished will be
kept strictly confidential.
Massachusetts
Workers' Compensation - F.A.Q's
Massachusetts
Premier Workers' Compensation Lawyers
Other Massachusetts Workers'
Compensation Resources
Massachusetts
Workers' Compensation Act
Massachusetts
Department of Industrial Accidents
Injured
Worker's Guide (Publication of Mass. Department of Labor)
The
Workers' Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau
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Parker Scheer LLP lawyers handle workers' compensation claims in Massachusetts towns including Acton, Amesbury, Amherst, Andover, Arlington,
Ashburnham, Ashfield, Ashland, Athol, Attleborough, Barnstable,
Barre, Bedford, Belmont, Berkley, Berlin, Bolton, Boston, Boxborough,
Boxford, Boylston, Bradford, Braintree, Burlington, Buzzards
Bay, Cambridge, Carlisle, Charlemont, Charlestown, Charlton,
Chelmsford, Chelsea, Clinton, Concord, Danvers, Dedham, Deerfield,
Dudley, Duxbury, East Longmeadow, Essex, Fall River, Fitchburg,
Foxboro, Framingham, Franklin, Freetown, Gardner, Gill, Gloucester,
Granby, Groveland, Hadley, Hamilton, Hanover, Haverhill, Holbrook,
Holliston, Holyoke, Hopkinton, Hubbardston, Hudson, Ipswich,
Kingston, Lakeville, Lancaster, Lawrence, Leominster, Lexington
Lincoln, Lowell, Ludlow, Lynn, Lynnfield, Malden, Marblehead,
Marlborough, Marshfield, Maynard, Melrose, Methuen, Methuen,
Middleborough, Middlefield, Milford, Milton, Monterey, Nantucket,
Natick, Needham, New Bedford, Newbury, Newburyport, Newton,
North Attleborough, North Brookfield, Northampton, Northborough,
Paxton, Peabody, Pepperell, Pittsfield, Plymouth Provincetown,
Quincy, Reading, Richmond, Rockport, Rowe, Rowley, Salem, Saugus,
Sherborn, Southbridge, Spencer, Sterling, Stoughton, Stow, Sturbridge,
Sudbury, Templeton, Topsfield, Townsend, Truro, Upton, Wakefield,
Waltham, Watertown, Wayland, Wellesley, West Boylston, West
Newbury Westborough, Westford, Weston, Westport, Williamstown,
Wilmington, Winchendon, Winchester, Woburn, Worcester, Yarmouth.
Parker Scheer also provides referral services for personal injury
lawyers in states other than Massachusetts.
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