Common law claims and the lump sum choice
Below 20% degree of permanent impairment, accepting a lump sum is an irrevocable choice against pursuing common law damages. At 20% or above, you can generally do both.
WorkCover Queensland's own guidance on lump sum payments sets out a threshold that changes what options stay open after an assessment. If the assessed degree of permanent impairment (DPI) is under 20%, a worker must make an irrevocable choice between accepting the lump sum offer or pursuing a common law damages claim instead: taking the lump sum closes off the common law option, and pursuing common law forgoes the lump sum. If the DPI is 20% or more, a worker can accept the lump sum and still pursue a common law claim afterward.
This applies to every injury type, and matters most after a dispute
This 20% threshold and irrevocable-choice rule is not specific to psychological injuries; it applies across the Act. It is worth understanding specifically for a psychological injury claim because the path to that assessment often runs through a rejection, review, and eventual acceptance, by which point a worker may be facing this choice at the same time as several other decisions.
What this site does not do
Choosing between a lump sum and a common law claim depends on the specifics of your injury, your DPI assessment, and your circumstances, and it is a decision this site does not make for you. Getting advice before accepting a lump sum offer, given how the 20% threshold works, is worth doing before signing anything.