Compensation – work or traffic injury?

Compensation – lawyer in Norway

If you have been injured at work in Norway or in a car accident you may be entitled to compensation. You need a lawyer who speaks Norwegian and specializes in the relevant Norwegian compensation legislation. 

After being injured at work or in a car accident, your legal expenses are likely to be covered by the insurance company.

We have expertise within compensation law and have over 30 years of experience. We will help you after being injured in a traffic accident or after being injured at work (occupational injury).

If you contact us we will call you to discuss your case and form an opinion on the phone. This is free of charge. We will give you relevant feedback and a realistic assessment of what you can achieve.

Our employees speak Norwegian, Polish and English. If you speak other languages, we will help you as best we can.

Traffic accident or work injury in Norway?

The information on this page is targeting occupational injury and diseases. However, our experts work with compensation claims after traffic accidents as well. For more information and an assessment regarding your compensation claim after a car accident, please contact us.

Good to know – the insurance company usually covers legal expenses in work or traffic injury cases.

Compensation after an accident at work

The occupational injury insurance usually covers the following items:

  • loss of income
  • expenses (medical and other expenses)
  • future loss of income
  • compensation for permanent injury both from the insurance company and NAV (“Menerstatning”)
  • lawyer expenses

Your claim for compensation

No two work injury cases are alike and there will always be discussions with the insurance company. Common discussion topics are what is your actual financial loss. There may be questions about the extent of your injury and whether there are other causes for the injury and your ailments. Your claim for compensation will depend on your education, occupation, income situation, family situation and the type of work injury you have endured or suffered. We have extensive experience with such assessments and can therefore help you find out what you are entitled to.

What is an accident at work? What is an occupational injury?

A definition of an accident at work which is an occupational injury:

An occupational injury is a personal injury, an illness or death caused by an accident at work. In legal terms an accident at work is considered to be a sudden or unexpected external incident to which one has been exposed.

An accident at work is also considered to be a specific time-limited external incident that results in an injury or strain that is unusual in relation to what is normal in your work.

As a rule, it is easy to know what an occupational injury and accident at work is. For example, falls from scaffolds, roofs or ladders, or crush injuries, often with head injuries and fractures.

Strain injuries that have developed over time in the musculoskeletal system are not considered occupational injuries, for example long lasting aches and pains.  This also includes disorders that have developed as a result of mental strain or strain over time. The legislator’s reasoning is that it is difficult to distinguish between disorders from strain occurring at work and from leisure activities.

Occupational injury – your rights and compensation

If you have been injured at work, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation. An occupational injury also triggers benefits/rights in NAV (National Insurance Scheme).

We have over 30 years of experience with compensation cases and we know how important it is that you have an overview of your claim and your rights. We are specialists in the field and can help you with your compensation case so that you can receive the benefits you are entitled to.

Our employees help you seek compensation for loss of income, treatment expenses and other expenses from your employer’s insurance company. We also have extensive experience with choosing a medical specialist in connection with the assessment of your injuries, preparation of a final claim and negotiations with the insurance company. We can also represent you in a possible lawsuit.

Many people find it challenging to stand alone against the insurance company. We help you so that you can focus on your own rehabilitation. 

You can read more about your benefits from NAV here.

How to report an accident at work?

Often, a description of the injury report will be important evidence. If you are unsure of how to fill out the injury report or whether the incident you have been exposed to is an occupational injury, you may want to contact us for guidance. 

You can find more information on how to report an occupational injury or illness to NAV here.

What to do when you have been injured?

The most important thing you do when you have been injured is to seek medical help so that you get the treatment you need. The records from doctor visits are also crucial in the compensation case because they are proof of what happened and what injuries you received in the accident. If the ailments persist, you should continue to see a doctor and receive treatment so that you get medical help and advice, at the same time as your ailments are documented. 

We recommend that you contact us so that you can receive an assessment of whether you are entitled to compensation after the work accident. 

Accident at work – examples

An example of a work accident is a fall accident from scaffolds or roofs often resulting in head injuries and fractures. Other examples are cuts, crush injuries, nerve damage, amputations, eye injuries, burns, smoke injuries, etc.

Compensation after a work accident – what does workers’ compensation cover? 

Many people ask for a calculator that shows the compensation after an occupational injury. Because there are individual assessments in each case, such as the size of your income and how many years of loss you have, the result is rarely correct. There will always be discussions with insurance companies about which figures should be included in the calculation. This makes the calculations uncertain. We recommend that you contact a lawyer who can help you enter the right numbers and preconditions for you, so that you get the compensation you are entitled to. 

If you have suffered an injury at work, you have the right to be reimbursed for all expenses you have and will incur as a result of the injury. You are also entitled to have your loss of income covered through the occupational injury insurance. The loss of income is calculated individually in each case. The expenses you can get covered depends on what kind of needs you have, what kind of injury you have and what income you would have had without the injury.

Expenses after work injuries

You are entitled to be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses as a result of the work injury from the insurance company. First, you need to examine what NAV/HELFO covers.  Read more about HELFO here. We can help you with this, but you must apply to NAV/HELFO yourself to be reimbursed. If all of your expenses are not covered by HELFO we will then claim the difference from the insurance company. Normally, HELFO covers expenses for doctors, treatments, transportation and medicines that are necessary as a result of the injury. However, there may be some expenses that are not covered.

We recommend that you save all your receipts. What appears to be a small amount when you pay can quickly become a large amount if it takes time before your injury heals.It is important that you send in receipts to Helfo to cover your expenses. You must do this no later than 6 months after you incurred the expense.

Lawyer expenses

You are entitled to so-called necessary and reasonable expenses for a lawyer through the occupational injury insurance. This means that, as a general rule, you will be reimbursed for all your legal expenses.

Loss of income

You are entitled to be reimbursed for your loss of income from the insurance company. Normally, the loss occurs after the sickness benefit (sykepenger) period ends, if you are not back to work full-time. In these situations you may be entitled to work assessment allowance (“arbeidsavklaringspenger”).You may also have a loss of income earlier than this if you had income from overtime, extra work or earned more than 6G a year. 

If you do not return to work full-time, you will also be entitled to be reimbursed for your future loss of income (basic compensation). When you have an occupational injury, it is normally a standardized measurement of your future loss of income that you receive in compensation after the occupational injury. 

Most people need help to calculate the loss of income correctly. The insurance companies are good at this, so we recommend that you also get help from someone who is an expert in this area.

Menerstatning (compensation for permanent injury)

When you have had a work accident and it is approved as an occupational injury by NAV, you may be entitled to menerstatning from both NAV and the insurance company.Menerstatning is paid when you have suffered an injury or an illness that has given you permanent injuries in the form of a medical disability. Menerstating is a compensation for lost life development that cannot be measured in money (non-financial losses). The degree of medical disability determines the amount of compensation. A doctor will determine the degree of disability.

The compensation is a percentage calculated on the National Insurance basic amount (grunnbeløp G). This differs from a financial loss which is calculated on the basis of actual income and expenses. You may be entitled to compensation even if you can work as usual and have no loss of income. We can help you find out whether Menerstatning may be relevant for you. 

If the conditions are met, you are entitled to Menerstatning both from NAV and the insurance company. You must apply for compensation from NAV yourself. The main rule is that you must apply within one year after the accident. You must have a medical degree of disability of at least 15% to be entitled to compensation. There are exceptions if your employer has taken out supplementary insurance. 

The measurement of Menerstatning is standardized. 

You can read more about Menerstatning from NAV and find the application form here.

Occupational injuries in traffic

Some traffic accidents happen while you are at work. Typically, this will apply to professional drivers, such as taxi drivers, delivery or truck drivers, but also others who use a car at work. It can be a home nurse who drives between assignments or when you are on a business trip. 

For a traffic accident to be an occupational injury, the traffic accident must have occurred while you were at work, during normal working hours. 

If you have been involved in a work accident in traffic and injured yourself, you are entitled to compensation for your financial loss. The compensation will put you in the same financial situation as if the traffic accident had not occurred. 

In the event of a traffic accident with personal injury while at work, two laws apply, the Motor Vehicle Liability Act and the Occupational Injuries Insurance Act. The rules are the same when it comes to losses until a final settlement takes place. For the future loss, loss of income, expenses etc. there are different rules. Two calculations must be made and the injured party has the right to choose the option that is most favorable. If the injured party is also a public employee, a third set of rules apply, the Basic Agreement for Civil Service (hovedtariffavtalen). The calculations can be complicated and different assumptions must be entered based on the different sets of rules. It is therefore recommended that you get help with this. 

It is the car’s insurance company that is responsible for the traffic accident that handles the case, even if it is also an occupational injury. In some cases, it may take some time before the companies have clarified who is responsible. In the meantime, the injured party can deal with their own insurance company.

Traffic accident or work injury – what is important?

It is important to report the damage to both insurance companies, both those who are liable under the Motor Vehicle Liability Act and those who are liable under the Occupational Injuries Insurance Act, if this is a different company. It is also important to report the damage under any other insurance that the employer has, such as personnel insurance. 

The claim must also be reported to NAV. This is important for reimbursement / coverage of expenses, for example, treatments, doctor, medication, travel etc. 

We work with both work injuries and traffic injuries and have extensive experience in dealing with both. We have good expertise to help you with this, as well as following up the case with the insurance company.

Traffic accidents on the way to and from work – is it an occupational injury?

Traffic injuries that occur on the way to or from work are not covered as an occupational injury. This is because you have not arrived at the workplace, you are not at work and it is often not during working hours. This means that the rules of the Occupational Injuries Insurance Act do not apply, but the traffic injury is covered under the Motor Vehicle Liability Act. The traffic injury will also not be covered by the occupational injury provisions in the National Insurance Act. 

You must be aware that if you have started the working day at the home office before you drive off to the workplace or first customer, you will be considered to be at work. Then the working day has already started. On the other hand, the journey from the first customer to the workplace or the next customer will be covered. The journey directly from the last customer and home will not be covered. There are exceptions to the rules if e.g. driving is a significant part of the working day. It can e.g. be that one drives for many hours to attend a meeting or such. Then the entire journey will be covered from the time you leave home until you return. 

It can be difficult to determine whether this is an injury at work in such situations. Feel free to contact us for a free conversation and we will help you with a clarification.

Injured in a traffic accident? Or at work?

You may be entitled to compensation.

It is important that you have your case assessed and understand what you are entitled to. We can help you receive compensation for loss of income, cover your costs for doctors and health care costs, and help you with your compensation case against the insurance company.

The first consultation is over the phone and is always free of charge. It is up to you to decide if you want to engage us. The main rule is that our costs are covered by the insurance company as legal expenses are included in the insurance coverage.

Fill out the form below or contact us by phone, for a free and non-committal assessment of your case.