The Second Injury Fund

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What is the Iowa second injury fund? And do you qualify for it? If you sustained a permanent work injury to a scheduled member injury, such as an injury to an arm, leg, hand, foot, knee or eye, and you previously sustained a prior permanent injury to a different arm, leg, hand, foot, knee or eye. Regardless if the first injury was work related or not, then you may be entitled to additional Workers Compensation benefits under the Iowa second injury fund. Keep in mind that the first injury does not need to be work related. In fact, it could be something that you were born with. For example, if you sustained a permanent arm injury and received a 10% impairment rating, then you would be owed 25 weeks of benefits because 10% times the value of arm which is 250 weeks equals 25 weeks. However, if you previously sustained, say a permanent knee injury, even if the knee injury was not caused by work, then you may be entitled to receive second injury fund benefits. If you qualify for the second injury fund, then your case will be treated just like an unscheduled or industrial disability claim. Meaning that your impairment rating will only be one of many factors in determining how much permanent compensation you should receive. An important thing to know is that before agreeing to any settlement, or signing any settlement documents in a scheduled member injury case, you should consult a work injury attorney to see if you qualify for the second injury fund, because if you sign a compromise settlement agreement, then you will lose your claim against the second injury fund.