In this video, Bourke Legal Director and Personal Injury Lawyer Brendan Bourke shares how Bourke Legal can help injured police officers.
How Bourke Legal can help injured police officers
Transcript
Hi, I’m Brendan Bourke from Bourke Legal. If you’re a police officer watching this, chances are you’re feeling sick at the thought of going back to work again.
Maybe your partner is telling you, darling, this is killing you you’ve got to stop, maybe your kids are avoiding you. Even worse, you might be avoiding your kids. If that sounds like you, it’s time to get some professional advice.
You need to see your GP? Ask for a referral to a psychologist. Maybe see a psychiatrist as well, and get some expert legal advice. This is one of those times where I’m very sure you’re going to feel better after seeing a lawyer.
I can say that because 99% of people walk out of here saying, I feel better, some are smiling, some are even laughing. It’s not that all their problems have been cured. It’s not that all the issues have been solved, but one big issue has been solved.
They’re not worrying about their finances anymore. They’re not worried about how to pay the mortgage, how to feed the kids, how to get them through uni, and that gives them all of their energy to devote to just getting better, to healing.
So what happens if you get to the point where you know you just can’t do it any longer? You put in a claim, you go off. You get nine months at your reward rate. At the end of that, you’re going to be on income protection, 75 % of your reward rate for seven years.
On top of that, we’re going to help you out with your TPD claim, that’s a big lump sum. It goes into your Super account, but it’s going to take a lot of the worry off you for what’s going to happen in your retirement years. There’s also some payments under Section 66 and 67. What does that mean? Who cares?
What it means is there’s some small lump sums, could be anywhere from $10,000 to about $50,000, to cover you, to compensate you for the bumps, the scratches, the knocks, the bruises, the rips, the busts, the tears, the sore back, the busted knees, the stiff neck, the sore shoulders, all of those sorts of things that have happened to you over the years.
We’re going to give you an advice that covers all the possibilities. Return to work, don’t return to work, set up your own business, work for a business. If we structure things properly, we should put you in a position where you’re getting twice the normal workers comp rate.
In other words, working half as hard and taking home the same package as you are now. It’s not, as the footballers say, rocket surgery, it’s just attention to detail. Quite apart from the financial advice, there’s quite a lot of practical advice.
Is it okay to be happy? Is it okay to smile and laugh? Have beers with the boys, weekends away with the girls. Yeah, of course it is. Will there be an investigator following me? Probably not, they hardly ever do. But so what if they do?
So what if an investigator catches you smiling and laughing at a restaurant? That doesn’t mean you can go back to work as a police officer. Don’t worry about that sort of stuff. There’s lots and lots to tell you, and it’s all good news.
Except for one thing, leaving your police career, getting better, settling into a new career, it’s going to take some time. As in the shampoo ad, it’s not going to happen overnight, but it will happen, and we’re here to help you make it happen.