In Virginia, you can get workers compensation if you are unable to do your job due to an injury or disease˳ You also may be able to get Social Security Disability if you are disabled˳ But Social Security Disability benefits can be reduced if you are receiving Virginia workers compensation payments˳ There are some ways around this “bad impact” on a disabled person’s benefits˳
THE HISTORY OF THE OFFSET
Congress decided many years ago that if a worker received both workers’ compensation and Social Security Disability at the same time this would be a “double payment” of benefits˳ Workers compensation in Virginia pays an injured worker two-thirds (2/3) of his average weekly salary when he is out due to an injury or disease˳ Social Security on the other hand pays the disabled worker a benefit based on his/her lifetime earnings˳ Congress decided if the combination of the two benefits exceeded 80% of what was considered to be the worker’s salary then the Social Security benefit should be reduced by each dollar that its payment exceeds 80% of the injured worker’s salary˳
THERE IS NO OFFSET FOR RETIREMENT BENEFITS
The reduction talked about above does not apply to early retirement benefits˳ Thus, if the injured worker is claiming Social Security retirement benefits, there would be no offset˳ Thus, if one is 62 or older in some circumstances it may be wiser to claim the retirement benefits so that one avoids the offset˳ This is a strategic decision that should be discussed with an attorney who is a specialist in the field˳
AVOIDING THE OFFSET BY WORKING OUT A LUMP SUM SETTLEMENT
An experienced attorney can avoid the offset in another way˳ That is done by settling the disabled worker’s workers compensation case˳ But in the settlement the money is pro-rated over the person’s life expectancy˳ For example, if the person is 40 years old, the person may have a life expectancy of 40 more years or 2,080 weeks˳ Then, one can take the settlement of $100,000 (for example) and divide that by the 2,080 weeks˳ This would yield a weekly amount of only $48˳07˳ This amount of only $48˳07 per week would be too small to reduce the federal disability benefit˳
THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR NOT USING AN EXPERIENCED LAWYER
When a settlement is submitted to the Commission in Virginia the Commission will try to make sure it is in the claimant’s best interest˳ But an attorney who is a specialist in this field should be used˳
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