• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Boy Sets Fire

Lifestyle Blog

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Humor
  • Lifestyle
  • Money
  • Marketing
  • Business
  • Travel
  • Contact

How To Get Lost Wages Back After An Auto Accident

March 4, 2020 / by Andrew / Leave a Comment

Each year, between 20 and 50 million people are injured or disabled as a result of a car accident. Have you recently found yourself in this position? Have you had to take time off from work to deal with your injuries?

As if recovering from an injury, whether it lasts a day or several months, isn’t bad enough, now you also have to deal with a reduction in or total loss of income since you can’t work. The good news, though, is that you can recoup that money. Read on to learn how you can win back your lost wages after being involved in a car accident.

What Counts as “Lost Wages”

When you’re dealing with a car accident injury case, the term “lost wages” refers to any amount of money that you would have earned from your employer between the date of the accident and the date of the judgment or settlement. If your injuries resulted from the accident, you can recover the wages that you would have been able to earn had you not had to take time off from work to receive medical treatment or to heal.

“Lost Earning Capacity” and “Lost Compensation”

Remember, there’s a difference between “lost wages”, “lost earning capacity”, and “lost compensation.” These are separate issues that may apply to you, but that you also need to address (with your lawyer’s help) separate from the lost wages issue.

“Lost earning capacity” applies to those who have become disabled as a result of their accident. If the damage from your accident is so severe that you’re unable to work in the same way you did before, the insurance company must take that into account when calculating your settlement. They need to make up for the money you had the potential to earn had you not been injured and disabled.

“Lost compensation” includes lost wages as well as other losses, such as financial benefits. For example, it takes into account bonuses and other perks that come with your job for which you’re no longer eligible because of the time you spent away recovering.

What About Sick Leave?

Let’s say you were able to still get paid during some or all of your recovery time because you used your sick days or vacation days. Does that mean you’re not entitled to have your lost wages recovered? Nope!

Even if you didn’t directly lose income, you still deserve to get that money back. You should have been able to use those days when you were ill or when you wanted to take a vacation, not so you could recover from an accident for which someone else was responsible. This still counts as lost wages.

Submitting a Lost Wages Claim

At this point, you’re probably feeling glad that you can get back the money you’ve lost during your recovery. You might be wondering how to get paid after a car accident, though, or what kind of lost wages form you need to fill out. Here are the steps you need to take if you’re planning on submitting a lost wages claim:

Know Your Options

There are a few different ways you can go about recovering your lost wages. The first is to make a claim through your insurance company. The second option is to make a claim through the at-fault driver’s insurance company.

You can also file a lawsuit against the other driver. This option can get expensive and is the most time-consuming, so it’s best to only file a lawsuit in very serious cases.

Know What’s Covered

It’s important to know what’s covered under the insurance policy (yours or the at-fault driver’s), too. The amount of money you can recover varies based on the type of coverage.

For example, you can submit a claim through the at-fault driver’s liability bodily injury coverage. You can also submit a claim through your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage in the event that the driver doesn’t have insurance. If you live in a no-fault state, personal injury protection coverage allows you to collect lost wages from your insurance coverage up to whatever policy limit is in place.

Next Steps

After you’ve made a request through the insurance company, they’ll require you to receive an independent medical examination. You’ll also have to submit medical documents verifying the extent of your injuries, as well as an employment authorization form verifying the nature of your work and the time you’ve had to take off. If you’re self-employed, you can submit self-employment letters instead.

Proving Lost Wages

To get reimbursed for your lost wages, you need to be able to prove what you’ve missed out on as a result of the accident. The following documents can help you verify the amount of money you’ve lost:

Doctor’s Note

A note from your doctor proves that you sustained actual injuries. It also includes information about how much time they, in their professional medical opinion, recommend you take off work.

Be sure to search for an “auto accident doctor near me” and go see them as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the harder it is to prove that the accident is responsible for your injuries.

Paystubs

Paystubs show how much money you lost while you were off work and make the process of calculating yearly income easy. Self-employed individuals can use tax returns, invoices, and other documents in lieu of paystubs.

Employer Letter

You should submit a letter from your employer, too. This verifies your pay level, the number of hours you work and the number of days you missed.

Get Your Lost Wages Back Today

As you can see, there’s a lot you can do to get your lost wages back after you’ve taken time off work from being in an accident. You don’t have to accept your empty bank account and move on. Keep this information in mind so you can get reimbursed as you start working toward getting back on your feet (and back on the job).

Do you need more advice on recovering from a car accident or handle other legal issues? If so, we have plenty of resources available on our site. Check them out today.

To read more on topics like this, check out the lifestyle category.

Filed Under: Lifestyle

Previous Post: « Top Workable Plagiarism Checker for Anyone
Next Post: What Are the Telltale Signs That You Need to Clean Your Home ASAP »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About Us

Hey guys it’s Andrew! I am a writer, a blogger, and a curious human being full of ideas. I remember as a teenager going to my local store to grab a freshly published magazine about the ins and outs of the online business world. Read More…

Facebook

Boy Sets Fire

Lets Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Newsletter

Planning the Ultimate Florida Vacation

Florida is the second most popular state to visit in the US. Millions of tourists, from around the US and around the world, come to Florida each year for its warm, tropical weather, beautiful beaches, and world-class theme parks. Are you looking to travel south for your vacation? Wondering how you can plan the ultimate […]

20 Facts About Real Estate Business In Australia

In Australia, the real estate business is booming. According to recent studies, the industry has been growing steadily for the past few years and is expected to continue doing so in the foreseeable future. There are a number of reasons for this growth, chief among them being the country’s strong economy and population growth. Here […]

15 Ways To Vet Your Future Tenants

When you are a property management professionals, vetting potential tenants for your rental property, there are many things to consider. You want to make sure you’re choosing the best possible tenant for your space, and that means doing your research ahead of time. Here are 15 ways to vet your future tenants and ensure you make […]

https://contentmanager.io/job/load-image?id=344977&filename=415c1bc904d3469bd7dd91f45255a992.jpg

7 Reasons Your Website’s Organic Traffic is Low

Do you have a small business or another kind of site? All your efforts in building a website can easily be wasted if you don’t consider your organic traffic. You need an organic way to reach your audience and let them know about your company and your products. A great way to increase this kind […]

https://contentmanager.io/job/load-image?id=345809&filename=d6c44a9d215da58ac18bb45f9cd1b3be.jpg

Photo Editing Tricks: How To Use Photo Editing Software

Did you know that the secret behind an incredibly mind-blowing photograph is the editing? Photo editing is the key behind creating those classic, jaw-dropping images you come across on social media. In fact, many photographers have become famous due to their photo editing tricks, such as Brandon Woelfel. Yet, learning how to master photo editing software […]

Footer

Lets Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Recent Posts

  • Planning the Ultimate Florida Vacation
  • 20 Facts About Real Estate Business In Australia
  • 15 Ways To Vet Your Future Tenants
  • 7 Reasons Your Website’s Organic Traffic is Low
  • Photo Editing Tricks: How To Use Photo Editing Software

About Us

Hey guys it’s Andrew! I am a writer, a blogger, and a curious human being full of ideas. I remember as a teenager going to my local store to grab a freshly published magazine about the ins and outs of the online business world. Read More…

Facebook

Boy Sets Fire

Copyright© 2023 · boy sets fire