Consider, for a moment, the far-reaching impacts being injured in an accident can have on a person’s life. These injuries may limit a person’s mobility, the pain can impact the ability to engage in activities that once brought joy, and getting back to a semblance of normal life can feel like an impossibility. A person can also end up missing a significant amount of work time due to accident injuries and recovery time. The loss of income can compound with other financial struggles caused by the accident, such as the expenses associated with the cost of medical care. Fortunately, the law provides a way to recover things such as loss of income and medical expenses incurred due to an accident cause by someone else’s negligence. These losses, however, will need to be properly supported by evidence in order to be successfully recouped through bringing a personal injury claim.
Proving Loss of Income
Compensatory damages are those intended to compensate an injury victim for losses sustained due to an accident. These are the damages that have the goal of putting the victim in a place he or she would have been in had it not been for the accident and resulting injuries. Compensatory damages include:
- Cost of medical treatment
- Cost of future medical treatment
- Loss of income
- Loss of earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
Loss of income can be quite significant following an accident. There can be a lengthy recovery time required after sustaining accident injuries. On top of this, there is also likely to be follow-up medical appointments, procedures such as surgery, physical therapy, and other appointments sometimes followed by more recovery time following an accident which will usually lead to more missed work. Missed work resulting in loss of income does not have to be consecutively incurred following an accident to be includable in a damages claim. Over the course of an injury victim’s recovery, work may be missed periodically and can still be includable in a compensatory damages claim.
In order to support a claim for loss of income resulting from an accident, there must be documentation and other evidence to support such a loss. Most commonly, loss of income is shown through presenting pay stubs or a letter from an employer which details the rate of pay the injury victim is entitled to as well as the amount of missed work following an accident. For a person who is self-employed, documentation showing missed opportunities to grow and receive income can also be shown to support a claim for loss of income. Following an accident, be sure such losses of income are documented and retain this documentation to support your claim.
Personal Injury Attorneys
Loss of income can cause financial distress even under the best of circumstances. Add a loss of income following an accident as medical bills seem to be reaching new heights at a rapid pace and a person can easily feel like the weight of their financial problems has become insurmountable. Compass Law Group is here to help you receive full and fair compensation for the losses you have sustained in an accident. Contact us today.