Compensation For Lost Income In Personal Injury Cases English

Compensation for Lost Income in Personal Injury Cases

If you sustain serious injuries in a car accident, you may be unable to work for weeks, months, or even years. If the crash occurred because of someone else’s negligence, you may be able to pursue financial compensation for your lost income. In most cases, your claim or lawsuit should include the income already lost as well as the projected income you may lose in the future.

How Do You Calculate Lost Income After a Car Accident?

To be compensated for lost wages after a car accident, calculate how much income you have lost. This calculation also includes benefits (e.g., health insurance) from your employer. For example, If you make $1000 per week and you missed four weeks of work, you have the right to $4,000 compensation for lost wages. Base this calculation on your gross income. (Net income is the money remaining after taxes and other standard deductions).

What Documents Do I Need to Prove Lost Income?

If you are regularly employed by someone else, collecting information about your lost income is simple. Ask your supervisor, boss, or personnel office to write a letter on company stationery. The letter should include your name, your position, your rate of pay, the number of hours you normally work, and the number of hours or days you missed following the accident. The letter need not indicate whether you took sick leave, vacation time, or a leave of absence.

Typically, your lawyer will use your most recent pay stubs or wage statements to document your regular income. A letter from your employer may also suffice for this documentation, as long as it details your position, compensation structure, and how long you were out of work. If you do not typically work a full-time (40 hours per week) job, you may have to provide additional documentation, such as your income tax returns for the prior year(s). Several weeks or months of pay stubs may also help obtain an average weekly income value.

If you work in a service industry where tips make up a significant part of your income, you will have to provide additional documentation. If you collect your tips primarily through credit card transactions, or another method with a reliable paper trail, you can easily document this aspect of lost income. If you collect tips in cash, you can document this using your tax returns.

What About the Income I May Lose in the Future?

If your injuries will prevent you from working in the future, the at-fault driver is liable for those losses as well. Your car accident lawyer will need to obtain medical opinions or other expert testimony about your inability to work in the future. If you will miss work for one year, for example, your claim should include the value of a full year of income.

Can I Be Compensated for Lost Income if I Am Self-Employed?

If you are self-employed, you also have the right to receive compensation for lost income. The biggest difference is in how you will demonstrate your historical income in your car accident claim. If you are irregularly employed or are self-employed, proving lost income is more complicated. You have to show how much work time you lost and what you might have earned had you been able to work. You can use any evidence you have of a drop in billing or invoices, a calendar showing appointments you had to cancel, and any letters or documents showing meetings, conferences, or other appointments you were unable to attend.

After you have demonstrated how much work you missed, you have to show how much you might have earned. If you had been working a relatively steady amount immediately before the accident, you can show an average for the period by putting together copies of your billing, invoices, payments received, or other evidence of money earned. Then, depending on the amount you were working and how much you were earning, you can calculate how much income you are considered to have lost for the time you were unable to work.

Your car accident lawyer may use your federal income tax returns from the two years prior to the accident. If you bill your clients each month, you could look to your accounting records to demonstrate a drop in your monthly billing amounts. Self-employed accident victims may also pursue compensation for lost opportunities – although this may present a more complex challenge for documentation. You might provide copies of your daily or weekly calendars to your lawyer, showing the number of appointments you typically went on in a week. Or, if you had existing contracts for work you could not complete due to your injuries, those may serve to document lost income.

Medical expenses, lost wages, and property damage are just some of the damages that a personal injury plaintiff would typically be entitled to receive after an accident. Every accident is different, and the amount of damages a plaintiff will be entitled to receive will vary based on the specifics of the case. If you have been injured in a car accident caused by someone else’s negligence, our skilled Miami car accident attorneys can help you determine the appropriate amount of damages in your case. With years of experience, we understand how to navigate these types of claims in an effective and efficient manner. Our attorneys are ready to provide proven legal representation in pursuing your claim and stand ready to protect your rights.

Contact us today at 786 Lawyers for a free consultation!