Sometimes, yes. If you settled your California workers’ compensation case with a Stipulated Award and your condition later gets worse, you may be able to reopen it. However, you can do so only if you act within five years of your original injury.
If you settled with a Compromise and Release, reopening is usually not an option, because that kind of settlement closes the case for good. The type of settlement you signed and the time frame are typically what decide your options.
Reopening a workers’ comp claim is not an option for every injured worker. The possibility exists for one specific situation: your injury has become genuinely worse since your case was resolved.
California law calls this “new and further disability.” When it applies, and when you still have time on the clock, you can ask the workers’ compensation judge to revisit your award and provide additional benefits for the worsened condition.
The Five-Year Deadline That Controls Everything
Most don’t realize that the deadline to reopen is determined by the date of your injury and not the date you settled. In most cases, you have five years from the original injury date to file a petition to reopen for new and further disability. That matters enormously.
If you settled quickly, you may have years left to reopen your case. If your case dragged on and you settled near the four-year mark, your window to reopen could be short. A slowly worsening condition like a traumatic brain injury, where decline can show up gradually, is exactly the kind of situation where the five-year time frame can be determinant.
Stipulated Award vs. Compromise and Release: Why It Decides Everything
How you closed your case is the other deciding factor. A Stipulated Award keeps your case open in important ways. It typically preserves your future medical care and leaves open the possibility for you to come back for new and further disability.
A Compromise and Release, on the other hand, is a full and final lump-sum settlement. With that, you take the money, the case closes, and in most situations you give up the right to reopen later. Neither choice is automatically better, but they can have very different consequences down the road. That’s one more reason why the decision between a compromise and release and a stipulated award deserves real consideration before you sign.
What “New and Further Disability” Actually Means
Keep in mind: reopening isn’t necessarily a “second bite at the same apple,” so to speak. You can’t reopen simply because you wish you’d gotten more, or because you’ve changed your mind about the settlement amount.
To reopen, you have to show that your condition has objectively worsened since the award. That means more permanent impairment, a new need for treatment, or a deterioration that wasn’t accounted for.
Some examples could include an orthopedic injury where hardware fails, a fusion doesn’t hold, or arthritis sets in years later. Those could lead to further disabilities that can justify reopening.
How to Reopen a Claim
You’ll need what’s called a “Petition to Reopen,” filed with the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board before your five-year deadline passes.
That said, filing is only the start. You then have to prove the worsening with medical evidence, which usually means a fresh medical-legal evaluation documenting how your condition has changed.
To use an example, for a psychiatric injury that has deepened into more severe depression or PTSD, that could mean current treatment records and a supporting evaluation.
Because the burden is on you to show the change, strong, current medical documentation is everything. The board then handles the petition like any other dispute. If the medical evidence holds up, your award can be adjusted to reflect the worsened condition.
Other Reasons a Case Can Be Reopened
New and further disability is the most common path, but it isn’t the only one. California law also allows a case to be reopened within five years for “good cause.” That includes situations like a clear mistake of fact, newly discovered evidence, or fraud that affected the outcome.
These are narrower and harder to win, but they are a viable option when a settlement was built on something that turned out to be wrong.
How Worsening Looks Depends on Your Injury
New and further disability shows up differently across injury types. That could include a healthcare worker whose repetitive-strain condition progresses despite treatment, or a driver hurt on the job whose spinal injury deteriorates into nerve damage.
In the past, a client was a worker whose slip and fall leaves a joint that steadily gets worse. Each of those can support a petition to reopen if the change is real and documented. The common thread in all of these is objective decline, and not just ongoing discomfort you already knew about.
Don’t Wait Until the Deadline
If you think your condition is getting worse, the worst thing you can do is wait to reach out to an attorney.
The five-year clock doesn’t pause while you decide. Remember: reopening takes time to document and file. The moment your symptoms clearly worsen, that’s the point to get professional medical opinions and find out whether reopening is the right course of action. You don’t want to do so later when the window has narrowed or closed.
What Reopening Can Actually Get You
When a petition to reopen succeeds, the judge can raise your permanent disability rating to reflect the worsened condition and order additional benefits. What it doesn’t do is reprice the entire case or undo a settlement you simply regret. Instead, it addresses the deterioration, not the deal you made. That distinction matters.
Reopening is a tool for a body that genuinely got worse, not a way to renegotiate a number you wished were higher.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to reopen my workers’ comp claim?
Generally, you have five years from the date of your original injury, and not from the date you settled. Once that deadline passes, a petition to reopen for new and further disability is no longer available.
Can I reopen a case I closed with a Compromise and Release?
Usually not. A Compromise and Release is a full and final settlement that closes the case. It typically waives your right to reopen for new and further disability.
What do I have to prove to reopen?
That your condition has genuinely worsened since the award. You have to prove you have a new and further disability backed by current medical evidence. Regret over the settlement amount isn’t enough to reopen a case.
Does reopening affect my future medical care?
If you settled with a Stipulated Award, your future medical care generally stays open regardless. Reopening is about adding benefits for a worsened condition that is separate from ongoing treatment you’re already entitled to.
Do I need a new medical evaluation to reopen?
Almost always. Because you carry the burden of showing the change, a current medical-legal evaluation documenting the worsening condition is usually essential.
A Note From ODG Law Group
This article is general information about California workers’ compensation, not legal advice, and reading it doesn’t establish an attorney-client relationship.
Every claim is different, and outcomes depend on the specific facts of a case. We never guarantee any particular result. If your condition has worsened since your case settled, ODG Law Group offers free, confidential consultations in English, Spanish, and Armenian. Attorney advertising.
Last reviewed: August 2026.
