Often times clients wonder how their California Workers' Compensation claim will be affected if the Employment Development Department (EDD) has paid them state disability insurance benefits for what later is deemed to be a compensable work injury. They want to know if they will have to return the state disability money to the EDD once their work injury becomes "accepted" or "admitted" by the workers' compensation insurance company upon a finding of AOE/COE.
The answer is (usually) "yes," but you will not have to pay EDD back directly out of your pocket. EDD will generally file a lien against your ultimate case settlement for the amount it paid to you that should have been paid by the workers' compensation insurance company. However, if it can be medically substantiated that you should have received temporary disability from the workers' compensation insurance company for the period of time that EDD paid you, then the workers' compensation insurance company will have to pay you retroactive temporary disabilty benefits, which could be more than what the EDD paid you. This of course would allow you to keep the difference as part of your lump sum settlement. However, because you cannot "double dip," EDD's lien will need to be satisfied from the proceeds of your cash settlement - and not until then.
Negotiating EDD's lien or having EDD "waive" their lien altogether is also sometimes a possibility, which would allow you to keep more of your settlement money. Ofcourse, in order to successfully negotiate with the EDD, it helps to know all the arguments that can be properly raised. Jamie Adler of the Law Office of Jamie S. Adler knows these arguments and how to negotiate with the EDD and uses his skills to his clients' benefit so that they can keep the most amount of money possible out of their case settlement.
Call (310) 567-7993 for a free consultation since each case is different and this article does not contain legal advice or apply to every situation. The Law Office of Jamie S. Adler is here to help you stand up to the insurance company because no one should have to take on a much more experienced and resourceful opponent alone, especially when it comes to the money they need to feed their families. https://www.jsalawfirm.com
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