Indiana Workers Comp Settlement Chart and PPI Ratings

The Indiana workers’ comp settlement chart values a permanent injury by assigning a fixed number of “degrees” to each body part, multiplying those degrees by the doctor’s impairment percentage, and then converting the resulting degrees into dollars on a tiered rate table set by your date of injury. For injuries on or after July 1, 2025, degrees pay from $1,913 each at the low end to $4,436 each at the high end. Once a physician assigns the impairment percentage, most of the math is fixed by statute.¹

Degrees Assigned to Each Body Part

Indiana Code 22-3-3-10 sets the maximum degree value for each scheduled body part. A total loss of the part is worth the full number; a partial loss is worth that percentage of it.

Arm above the elbow: 50 degrees
Leg above the knee: 45 degrees
Hand below the elbow: 40 degrees
Foot below the knee: 35 degrees
Eye (complete loss of vision): 35 degrees
Hearing, both ears: 40 degrees; one ear: 15 degrees
Thumb: 12 degrees
Great toe: 12 degrees
Index finger: 8 degrees
Second finger: 7 degrees
Third (ring) finger: 6 degrees
Fourth (little) finger: 4 degrees
Second toe: 6 degrees
Third toe: 4 degrees
Fourth toe: 3 degrees
Fifth toe: 2 degrees
Loss of both hands, both feet, both eyes, or any two such losses in one accident: 100 degrees
Whole person (body as a whole): 100 degrees

A total loss is rare. In most claims, a doctor rates what percentage of the part’s function is permanently gone and that percentage is applied to the maximum. A 30% impairment of an arm produces a 15-degree rating (30% of 50).²

Injuries Not on the Chart

The head, neck, shoulder, back, and hip are not listed as scheduled body parts. Those injuries, along with hernias and any injuries to both sides of the body in the same accident, are rated against the whole person at 100 degrees. When one accident damages two separate body parts, each is rated on its own schedule and then converted to a whole-person rating.³

Where the Impairment Percentage Comes From

The rating process cannot start until a doctor decides you have reached Maximum Medical Improvement, the point at which further treatment will not meaningfully improve your condition. When the employer files the state form terminating temporary disability payments based on that determination, you have seven days to object and request an Independent Medical Examination at the employer’s expense. That window is short and unforgiving; missing it makes challenging the rating much harder later.⁴

After MMI, the employer’s physician assigns a permanent partial impairment (PPI) rating using the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. Indiana does not require a specific edition of the Guides; the physician selects the edition most appropriate to the case, and should consult an earlier edition if a newer one would block recovery for a legitimate impairment.⁵

The result is a percentage. Multiply it by the statutory maximum for the affected body part to get your degree rating. A 40% impairment of the leg is 18 degrees (40% of 45). That degree number is what feeds the dollar table.

Dollar Value Per Degree

Indiana uses a sliding scale: each bracket of degrees pays a higher rate than the one before it, so more severe injuries earn proportionally more per degree. The rate that applies is set by your date of injury, not the date you settle.¹

For injuries on or after July 1, 2025:

Degrees 1–10: $1,913 per degree
Degrees 11–35: $2,133 per degree
Degrees 36–50: $3,481 per degree
Degrees 51–100: $4,436 per degree

For injuries between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025:

Degrees 1–10: $1,857 per degree
Degrees 11–35: $2,071 per degree
Degrees 36–50: $3,380 per degree
Degrees 51–100: $4,307 per degree

For injuries between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, degrees 1–10 paid $1,803 and degrees 11–35 paid $2,011, with higher brackets scaling accordingly. Match your injury date to the correct year’s rates. Using the wrong year produces the wrong settlement number.

Sample Calculations

To value a claim, distribute the total degrees across the brackets in order and add the results. Using July 2025 rates:

Moderate finger injury. A 50% impairment of the index finger (8-degree max) produces 4 degrees. All 4 sit in the first bracket: 4 × $1,913 = $7,652.

Significant knee injury. A 40% impairment of the leg (45-degree max) produces 18 degrees. The first 10 pay $1,913 each ($19,130); the next 8 pay $2,133 each ($17,064). Total: $36,194.

Severe back injury rated to the whole person. A 55% whole-person impairment produces 55 degrees. Degrees 1–10 cost $19,130; degrees 11–35 (25 degrees) cost $53,325; degrees 36–50 (15 degrees) cost $52,215; degrees 51–55 (5 degrees) cost $22,180. Total: $146,850.

These numbers reflect only the PPI portion of the case. They do not include temporary disability already paid during your recovery, ongoing medical benefits, or any other component of a full claim.

How the Money Reaches You

Indiana recognizes three settlement structures, and the one you sign affects whether you can come back later if things get worse.

An Agreement to Compensation (State Form 1043) is the standard route when nothing about the claim is contested. The PPI amount is typically paid in weekly installments, and you keep the right to reopen the case if your condition deteriorates or you need further treatment.⁶

A Compromise Agreement (a Section 15 or “full and final” settlement) is used when the parties disagree about compensability, treatment, or the extent of benefits owed. You accept a negotiated lump sum and permanently give up the right to reopen the case; only fraud, mutual mistake, or duress can undo it.⁷

A Stipulated Agreement is used when several issues are resolved together. Like the Agreement to Compensation, it preserves the right to seek modification if your condition changes.

All three require Workers’ Compensation Board approval before the insurer releases payment. Lump sum payouts also require Form 34873.⁶

The Two-Year Filing Deadline

You have two years from the date of injury to file a claim with the Workers’ Compensation Board. If no compensation has been paid and you miss that deadline, your right to benefits is permanently barred. For fatal injuries, the two years run from the date of death. This is the clock for opening the claim; disputes over the PPI amount and requests to reopen an approved claim run on separate timelines.

What Shrinks the Actual Check

Attorney Fees

Indiana caps attorney fees for workers’ comp cases by statute:⁸

Minimum fee: $200
First $50,000 of recovery: 20%
Recovery above $50,000: 15%
Unpaid, out-of-pocket, or future medical expenses: 10%

On the $36,194 knee example, the attorney fee ceiling is roughly $7,239. The Board can adjust fees in individual cases, so the schedule is a maximum rather than a required charge.

Federal Taxes

Workers’ comp benefits, including PPI settlements paid weekly or in a lump sum, are excluded from federal gross income and are not reported on your return.⁹ Interest that accrues on a lump sum after you receive it is taxable as ordinary income. If you also collect Social Security Disability Insurance, the offset between the two programs can shift income into the taxable SSDI category, so the workers’ comp portion can indirectly affect your tax picture.

Social Security Offset

If you receive SSDI, federal law caps the combined total of your workers’ comp and SSDI at 80% of your average pre-disability earnings. Anything over that cap comes out of your SSDI check until you reach full retirement age or the workers’ comp stops. Lump sums are prorated across the period they cover for offset purposes, and how the settlement agreement is worded, particularly any allocation to future medical costs, can move the offset number significantly.¹⁰

Medicare

If you already have Medicare or expect to enroll within 30 months, the settlement has to account for Medicare’s interests. Under Medicare Secondary Payer rules, workers’ comp is the primary payer for injury-related care, and Medicare generally will not cover treatment that workers’ comp should have paid.¹¹ The parties may need to build a Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside Arrangement into the settlement, reserving a portion of the payout for future injury-related medical care. Any conditional payments Medicare made for your treatment while the claim was pending must be repaid from the settlement. Ignoring these obligations can leave you personally responsible for medical bills that neither program will cover.

1
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-3-3-10 – Compensation for Injuries
2
Indiana General Assembly. a href=”https://iga.in.gov/laws/2022/ic/titles/22″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Indiana Code 22-3-3-10 – Compensation for Injuries
3
Indiana Worker’s Compensation Board. Evaluation of Permanent Partial Impairment for Indiana Workers Compensation Cases
4
Worker’s Compensation Board of Indiana. Who Is Eligible
5
Indiana Worker’s Compensation Board. Evaluation of Permanent Partial Impairment for Indiana Workers Compensation Cases
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Worker’s Compensation Board of Indiana. Worker’s Compensation Board of Indiana – Forms
7
Social Security Administration. DI 52120.085 Indiana Workers Compensation
8
Worker’s Compensation Board of Indiana. Schedule of Attorney Fees
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 104 – Compensation for Injuries or Sickness
10
Social Security Administration. How Workers Compensation and Other Disability Payments May Affect Your Benefits
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Medicare Secondary Payer