Can I get money back for lost wages if I can’t work because of the accident?
One of the most devastating aftereffects of an accident is the emotional toll it takes on your life. Once an able-bodied person capable of doing daily tasks on your own, working and providing for yourself, and not depending on others, you might find that now you are at the mercy of your family and friends’ kindness. At Cohen and Winters, we’re used to dealing with a wide range of accidents and helping clients with all types of injuries, both visible and invisible. We understand the nuances of personal injury and can help you navigate the complicated system. One of the most common questions we get from clients is whether they can reclaim lost wages that were the result of an injury sustained as a result of an accident.
What counts as lost income?
It’s easy to think of income as money made at work, but lost wages can include not just money you would have earned from working had you not been recovering from an accident, but also opportunities that were presented to you that you missed out on. Your ability to claim lost wages is not contingent on whether you were a full-time employee, part-time, salaried, self-employed, or working several jobs to make ends meet.
What if I was paid for vacation or sick days while recovering from an accident?
Recovering from an injury takes time and during that time, recovering compensation won’t happen overnight. That means that you will likely have to use sick or vacation days. Utilizing paid sick or vacation days is a way to ensure you don’t fall behind on your financial obligations, but they have financial value when they are paid the same as your typical working day. While you might have normally not taken them, your accident changed that and now you may be entitled to recover them as lost wages.
Proving Missed Work and Lost Wages
When you’re filing a lawsuit, there is a burden of proof on you to prove that the recovery process and aftereffects of your accident caused you to miss work and lose wages. As a result, there are numerous forms of documentation that will help bolster your case.
One of the most valuable pieces of evidence will be a letter from your company that includes your name, job title, income, working hours, and the days or hours missed after the accident. This letter should be sent to the claims adjuster if there is one. Hiring an experienced attorney will ensure your letter gets to the claims adjuster assigned to your case.
Proving Lost Wages If Self Employed
If you’re self-employed, the process of proving lost wages is a bit more difficult, but not insurmountable. The main difficulty behind proving lost wages as a self-employed person is that you have a conflict of interest in this case, you’re vouching for yourself, as opposed to having a company vouch for you.
Instead of reaching out to your supervisor, you’ll have to put together a business timeline and show how the accident has resulted in fewer invoices, bids for jobs, appointments, and anything else that might result in the generation of income.
Gathering this information is one thing we help our clients with, because understanding what is needed, how to organize it, and what needs to be presented in court is a lengthy process that must be done thoroughly. Our goal is to ultimately show the financial consequences of your accident as it pertains to your self-employment income.
Filing a Lawsuit
New Hampshire is a “fault” state. This means that you can sue the driver responsible for the car accident you were injured in, in addition to reaching a settlement with their car insurance providers.
There is a statute of limitation that limits the amount of time in which an at-fault driver can be sued, so if you want to do this, you’ll want to connect with our New Hampshire personal injury attorneys as quickly as possible.
Can I get money back for lost wages after a car accident?
A car accident can change your life. If you’ve lost money due to an inability to work after a car accident, we can help. Contact our experienced personal injury attorneys for help understanding what the implications of your case are and how our team can help you reach a favorable outcome. With decades of experience, we have worked on thousands of personal injury cases over the years and are here to serve you.
