LHWCA Benefits: What the Longshore Act Pays and How to File a Claim

If you load, unload, build, or repair vessels and you get hurt on the job, you are probably covered by a federal law that most injured workers have never heard of until the day they need it. It pays your medical bills in full, replaces two-thirds of your lost wages, and does it without making you prove anyone was at fault. The catch is that the system runs on forms and short deadlines, and the insurer is not going to volunteer the most generous reading of what you are owed.

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. LHWCA deadlines are short and benefit calculations are often disputed, so consult a licensed maritime attorney about your situation.

Key Facts at a Glance

• The LHWCA covers maritime workers who are not crew members of a vessel, such as dock, harbor, and shipyard workers (Source: U.S. Department of Labor).
• Benefits are no-fault: compensation is payable regardless of who caused the injury (Source: Shlosman Law).
• Disability is paid at 66 and two-thirds percent of your average weekly wage (Source: Cornell LII, 33 U.S.C. § 908).
• The maximum weekly benefit for October 2025 through September 2026 is $2,082.70 (Source: U.S. Department of Labor).
• Loss of a scheduled body part pays a set number of weeks; for example, an arm is 312 weeks and a leg is 288 weeks (Source: Cornell LII, 33 U.S.C. § 908(c)).
• You must notify your employer within 30 days and file a claim within one year (Source: Jones Act Law).
• You may also be entitled to state workers’ compensation, because the Supreme Court allows concurrent jurisdiction (Source: Justia, Sun Ship v. Pennsylvania).

What Is the LHWCA and Who Does It Cover?

The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act is a federal workers’ compensation system, administered by the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, for maritime workers injured on the navigable waters of the United States or in adjoining areas used to load, unload, build, or repair vessels (Source: U.S. Department of Labor). It is the safety net for maritime workers who are not Jones Act seamen, dockworkers, longshoremen, harbor construction workers, and shipbuilders and ship repairers. This guide covers whether it is no-fault, exactly what benefits it pays and how much, the scheduled awards for losing a body part, your medical and doctor-choice rights, death benefits, the filing process and deadlines, what to do if you are denied, and whether you can also claim state benefits or sue a vessel, with worked examples.

Is the LHWCA No-Fault?

Yes, and that is its central advantage. LHWCA benefits are payable irrespective of fault as a cause of the injury, so you do not have to prove your employer did anything wrong, and the employer cannot defend by blaming a co-worker or your own carelessness (Source: U.S. Department of Labor). This is the opposite of a Jones Act claim, which requires proving negligence but allows full damages including pain and suffering. The trade-off is the classic workers’ compensation bargain: you get prompt, fault-free benefits, but they are defined and capped rather than open-ended. For a worker who is not a seaman, that bargain is usually the fastest route to medical care and wage replacement after an injury.

What Benefits Does the LHWCA Pay?

The Act provides medical care plus four categories of disability compensation, divided by whether the disability is total or partial and temporary or permanent (Source: Longshore Act overview). The table below summarizes them.

Benefit type	When it applies	What it pays
Temporary total disability (TTD)	Cannot work at all while recovering	66 and two-thirds percent of AWW (§ 908(b))
Temporary partial disability (TPD)	Can do some work at reduced pay while recovering	66 and two-thirds percent of lost wages (§ 908(e))
Permanent total disability (PTD)	Permanently unable to return to work	66 and two-thirds percent of AWW for life (§ 908(a))
Permanent partial disability (PPD)	Lasting impairment, scheduled or by wage loss	Set weeks, or 66 and two-thirds percent of lost earning capacity (§ 908(c))
Medical benefits	Any covered injury or illness	All reasonable and necessary care (§ 907)

How Much Is the Weekly Payment?

The core figure is two-thirds of your pre-injury wage, within federal limits. Disability compensation is calculated at 66 and two-thirds percent of your average weekly wage, which is based on your earnings in the 52 weeks before the injury (Source: SAIF). That number is then capped: for the period from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, the maximum weekly benefit is $2,082.70, which is twice the national average weekly wage (Source: U.S. Department of Labor). Because the benefit is a percentage of your real wages up to that cap, two workers with the same injury can receive very different checks, and disputes over how the average weekly wage is calculated, especially for workers with overtime or seasonal earnings, are common and worth contesting.

What Are Scheduled Awards?

For the permanent loss of certain body parts, the Act pays a fixed number of weeks of compensation set by statute, regardless of whether you can still work. These scheduled awards are listed in Section 8(c) of the Act, and they are paid in addition to any earlier temporary disability compensation (Source: Cornell LII, 33 U.S.C. § 908(c)). The table below shows the schedule for common losses.

Body part lost (or loss of use)	Weeks of compensation	Authority
Arm	312 weeks	§ 908(c)(1)
Leg	288 weeks	§ 908(c)(2)
Hand	244 weeks	§ 908(c)(3)
Foot	205 weeks	§ 908(c)(4)
Eye	160 weeks	§ 908(c)(5)
Thumb	75 weeks	§ 908(c)(6)

One critical limit applies to these scheduled injuries. The Supreme Court held in Potomac Electric Power Co. v. Director, OWCP that for an injury listed in the schedule, the scheduled award is the exclusive remedy; an injured worker cannot instead claim the larger “loss of wage-earning capacity” amount, even if the actual wage loss is greater (Source: Justia, Potomac Electric Power Co. v. Director). That is why correctly characterizing an injury, scheduled versus unscheduled, can change the entire value of a claim.

What About Injuries Not on the Schedule?

Injuries to parts of the body not listed in the schedule, such as the back, neck, or the body as a whole, are compensated differently, based on lost earning capacity. For these unscheduled permanent partial disabilities, the Act pays 66 and two-thirds percent of the difference between your pre-injury average weekly wage and your post-injury wage-earning capacity, for as long as the disability continues (Source: Cornell LII, 33 U.S.C. § 908(c)(21)). This matters because a back injury, the most common serious longshore injury, is unscheduled, so its value turns on proving how much earning capacity you actually lost. That makes vocational evidence and the wage-earning-capacity calculation the heart of many longshore claims, and a frequent point of dispute with the insurer.

Does It Cover Medical Care, and Can You Pick Your Doctor?

Yes on both, and the choice of doctor is more important than it sounds. The Act covers all reasonable and necessary medical treatment for the work injury, including surgery, hospitalization, prescriptions, and related travel, with no co-pays or deductibles to the worker (Source: Cornell LII, 33 U.S.C. § 907). Importantly, you are allowed to select your initial treating physician, and you must get approval to change providers afterward (Source: SAIF). Because the treating physician’s opinion drives decisions about your ability to work, your impairment rating, and when you reach maximum improvement, choosing a qualified doctor you trust at the outset, rather than simply accepting the employer’s referral, can shape the entire claim.

Are There Death Benefits?

Yes. If a covered injury causes a worker’s death, the Act provides death benefits to surviving dependents, along with a funeral allowance, with the surviving spouse and children receiving a percentage of the worker’s average weekly wage (Source: Shlosman Law). These survivor benefits are paid under the same no-fault structure as disability benefits and are subject to the same maximum weekly rate. For a family that has lost its earner, the death-benefit claim follows its own notice and filing rules, so surviving dependents should treat the deadlines with the same urgency a disabled worker would.

How Do You File an LHWCA Claim?

The process runs on a sequence of forms and deadlines, and the early ones are on you. You must give your employer written notice of the injury, then file a formal claim, after which the employer and its insurer have their own deadlines to begin paying or to formally dispute (Source: RPC Consulting). The table below lays out the steps.

Step	Who acts / form	Deadline
Give written notice of injury	You (notice to employer)	Within 30 days (§ 912)
File the claim	You (Form LS-203)	Within 1 year (§ 913)
First disability payment	Employer / insurer	Within 14 days of knowledge (source)
Dispute the claim	Employer / insurer (Form LS-207)	Notice of Controversion (source)
Resolve a dispute	OWCP informal conference, then OALJ hearing	On request (source)

What If Your Claim Is Denied?

A denial is not the end; it triggers a structured dispute process. When an insurer disputes a claim, it files a Notice of Controversion (Form LS-207) stating its reasons, and the dispute then moves to the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, which holds an informal conference and issues a written recommendation (Source: Stephens & Stephens). If that does not resolve it, either party can request a formal hearing before an administrative law judge at the Office of Administrative Law Judges, and an unfavorable decision there can be appealed to the Benefits Review Board (Source: U.S. Department of Labor). As a worked example: a worker whose back-injury claim is controverted as “not work-related” can present his treating physician’s causation opinion at the OWCP informal conference, and if the insurer holds firm, escalate to a formal ALJ hearing where the evidence is weighed. The path mirrors the appeal route used for Defense Base Act claims, which the LHWCA also governs.

Can You Also Get State Benefits or Sue a Vessel?

Sometimes both, and these extra routes can add real value. The Supreme Court held in Sun Ship, Inc. v. Pennsylvania that a state may apply its own workers’ compensation scheme to land-based maritime injuries that also fall under the LHWCA, so the two systems can run concurrently, with no double recovery because one award is credited against the other (Source: Justia, Sun Ship v. Pennsylvania). Separately, if a vessel’s negligence caused your injury, you can bring a third-party lawsuit against the vessel under Section 905(b) for full tort damages, on top of your LHWCA benefits (Source: Cornell LII, 33 U.S.C. § 905). And if it turns out you are actually a seaman rather than a longshore worker, you would instead pursue a Jones Act claim, which allows full damages, so confirming your status is worth doing early (Source: Cornell LII, 46 U.S.C. § 30104).

A Worked Example: The Same Knee Injury, Two Values

Consider a marine terminal worker who permanently injures his knee. If the injury is treated as a scheduled loss of use of the leg, he receives the set 288 weeks of compensation at two-thirds of his average weekly wage, even if he keeps working, and under Potomac Electric Power he cannot demand more by pointing to a larger wage loss (Source: Potomac Electric Power Co., 449 U.S. 268). But if the same accident also injured his back, an unscheduled body part, that portion is valued by his lost earning capacity and can be worth far more or less than the schedule, depending on the vocational proof (Source: 33 U.S.C. § 908(c)(21)). The lesson is that how an injury is characterized, and how the wage-earning-capacity loss is documented, often matters as much as the injury itself.

How Long Do You Have to Act?

The deadlines are short and strictly enforced. You must notify your employer in writing within 30 days of the injury and file your formal claim within one year, or the claim can be denied for being untimely (Source: Jones Act Law). For occupational diseases or injuries that develop over time, the clock generally runs from when you knew or should have known the condition was work-related, which can extend the window, but relying on that is risky. The safest approach is to report any work injury immediately and in writing, keep copies, and file the claim promptly, because the documentation that wins, the injury report, the wage records, and the medical opinions, is easiest to assemble while the events are fresh.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is covered by the LHWCA?

Maritime workers who are not crew members of a vessel, such as dock, harbor, terminal, and shipyard workers injured on or near the navigable waters of the U.S. (Source: U.S. Department of Labor).

How much does the LHWCA pay?

Two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to a maximum of $2,082.70 a week for 2025-26, plus full medical care (Source: U.S. Department of Labor). To check your benefit, get a free case review.

What is a scheduled award?

A set number of weeks of compensation for the permanent loss of a listed body part; for example, an arm is 312 weeks and a leg is 288 weeks (Source: Cornell LII, 33 U.S.C. § 908(c)).

Can I choose my own doctor?

You may select your initial treating physician and must get approval to change providers afterward (Source: SAIF).

How do I file a claim, and by when?

Give your employer written notice within 30 days and file a claim (Form LS-203) within one year of the injury (Source: Jones Act Law).

What if my claim is denied?

The insurer files a Notice of Controversion; you can then use an OWCP informal conference and, if needed, a formal hearing before an administrative law judge and the Benefits Review Board (Source: Stephens & Stephens).

Can I also get state workers’ compensation?

Often yes; the Supreme Court allows concurrent state and LHWCA jurisdiction for land-based injuries, with one award credited against the other (Source: Justia, Sun Ship v. Pennsylvania).

The Bottom Line

The LHWCA is a strong no-fault safety net for maritime workers who are not seamen: full medical care and two-thirds of your wages up to $2,082.70 a week for 2025-26, with set awards for the loss of specific body parts and survivor benefits if a worker dies. But the system rewards getting the details right. Whether an injury is scheduled or unscheduled can swing its value, as Potomac Electric Power shows; the average-weekly-wage calculation is often disputed; your choice of treating doctor shapes the medical proof; and you may have parallel state benefits under Sun Ship or a separate vessel claim under Section 905(b). Report the injury in writing within 30 days, file within one year, choose your doctor carefully, and do not assume the insurer’s first number is the most you can recover.

References and Sources

1. Medical services and supplies, 33 U.S.C. § 907: Cornell Legal Information Institute
2. Compensation for disability and the schedule, 33 U.S.C. § 908: Cornell Legal Information Institute
3. Compensation for death, 33 U.S.C. § 909: Cornell Legal Information Institute
4. Determination of pay (average weekly wage), 33 U.S.C. § 910: Cornell Legal Information Institute
5. Notice of injury or death, 33 U.S.C. § 912: Cornell Legal Information Institute
6. Time for filing a claim, 33 U.S.C. § 913: Cornell Legal Information Institute
7. Vessel-negligence third-party claim, 33 U.S.C. § 905: Cornell Legal Information Institute
8. Jones Act (seaman alternative), 46 U.S.C. § 30104: Cornell Legal Information Institute
9. Potomac Electric Power Co. v. Director, OWCP, 449 U.S. 268 (1980): Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center
10. Sun Ship, Inc. v. Pennsylvania, 447 U.S. 715 (1980): Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center
11. LHWCA maximum compensation rate, effective October 1, 2025: U.S. Department of Labor, OWCP
12. LHWCA program overview and administration: U.S. Department of Labor, DLHWC
13. Filing, payment, and controversion timeline: RPC Consulting
14. LHWCA basics, deadlines, and denial reasons: Jones Act Law
15. Average weekly wage, doctor choice, scheduled vs. unscheduled: SAIF
16. Disability categories and benefit structure: Longshore Act overview

Editorial Standards and Review

This article follows a zero-hallucination policy. The benefit structure, the scheduled-award weeks, and the filing deadlines are cited to the U.S. Code (33 U.S.C. Sections 907 through 913) and the Department of Labor; the maximum compensation rate to the Department’s current bulletin; and the scheduled-award exclusivity and concurrent-jurisdiction rules to the Supreme Court decisions in Potomac Electric Power Co. v. Director and Sun Ship v. Pennsylvania. The worked examples are illustrative and not specific cases. OffshoreInjuryHelp.com is an informational resource, not a law firm, and does not provide legal representation; it connects injured maritime workers and their families with experienced attorneys. Learn more on our Editorial Standards page. Last reviewed: June 1, 2026.