Florida Injury Attorneys Blog
Now that you have a third party settlement, how much do you pay the worker’s compensation carrier from your proceeds? Many times an injured person is entitled to both workers’ compensation benefits as well as a third party settlement. Since the workers’ compensation doctors are often conservative and will not recommend procedures, including surgery, those procedures and surgeries may be paid for under a letter of protection or out of the third party settlement.
Where the workers’ compensation carrier has provided benefits, they will have a lien for the amount they have paid. The amount the injured person has to pay back to the workers’ compensation carrier is determined by the formula set forth in the case of Manfredo v. Employer’s Casualty Ins. Co., 560 So.2d 1162 (Fla. 1990).
Following the Manfredo formula, the third party settlement is divided by the Claimant’s net tort recovery, which is arrived at by deducting attorney’s fees and costs and outstanding medical bills outside of workers’ compensation. In other words, the total amount the Claimant will receive (his net tort recovery) over the full value of the case equals a percentage payback to the workers’ compensation carrier. The example below illustrates this calculation.