Calculating Lost Income in an Injury Claim After a Serious Accident
You might be reading this while propped up in bed in the hospital, or at home on the couch because you are missing work and have lost income due to an injury from a serious car crash. As the days melt into weeks, out of work, the bills keep piling up and you wonder how much longer you will be able to hold things together financially. The accident was not your fault. You were driving along the highway on your way to work when out of nowhere, you saw a vehicle hurtling towards you in a rolling spiral in the wrong direction. You woke up in the ambulance in pain and in fear of your life. You were later informed that the car that struck yours was driven by a drunk driver who had been traveling westbound when it crossed the median and hit you traveling eastbound. If the accident was someone else’s fault, you will most likely be able to recover compensation for your lost income, your medical bills and other expenses related to your injuries form the accident.
Calculating lost income in a personal injury claim
If an individual has been injured in a car accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence, they may lose a few days or even a few months at work. In other instances, the injured person may never fully recover from their injuries, and they may be left unable to perform the duties required at the job the held prior to the accident. If that person is forced to take a less demanding job that they can perform given the limitations of their injury, they are now dealing with a partial disability and a diminished earning capacity.
Illinois law allows those injured in an accident to recover compensation for the losses they have suffered in an accident that was the result of another person’s negligence. Lost income from work falls under economic damages which includes things such as medical expenses, property damage and other quantifiable losses.
Documenting lost income
Lost income may be quantified based on your earnings before you were injured, and how much time you lost because of your injuries. You would have to document your income before the accident by providing pay stubs along with a letter from your employer that calculates your monthly income before the accident.
If you are facing a diminished earning capacity because of the injury, you may need the testimony of a medical expert about the residual effects of the injury on your ability to perform necessary work functions.
If you are self-employed, it can be a little more complicated to prove lost income. You might show invoices for the days prior to the accident and what you were earning then, and show proof of decreased income because you were unable to work. You can provide tax returns from previous years to document the level of income that you had and lost when you were unable to work.
Calculating your lost income, and securing the documentation to prove it is one of the many ways in which having a skilled Illinois personal injury attorney by your side can prove beneficial to your case.
If you have been injured in a Chicago car accident and you have lost time at work recovering from your injuries, you will need aggressive representation to make sure that you receive full compensation for the time you lost. Chicago car accident attorneys at Gainsberg Injury and Accident Lawyers have an enviable reputation for obtaining compensation for our clients. For a free case review, call 312-600-9585 or contact us
Attorney Neal Gainsberg has spent the last 20+ years fighting to protect the rights of the injured in Chicago and throughout Illinois. For dedicated legal help with a personal injury, car accident, or wrongful death matter, contact Gainsberg Injury and Accident Lawyers in Chicago for a free consultation.