loss of income

How Do You Prove Loss of Income?

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Being injured in an accident can seemingly bring life as you know it to a screeching halt. The pain and limitations that come with being injured can impact things in far-reaching ways. For starters, you may have needed to miss work. Such a loss of income can be greatly missed, especially as you watch expenses like medical bills pile up. The good news is, however, that you can make a claim for loss of income as part of the compensatory damages you seek in your personal injury claim. How do you prove loss of income? We’ll discuss that here.

How Do You Prove Loss of Income?

If you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence, you can seek compensation for your injuries and associated losses through a personal injury claim. The bulk of a personal injury claim for compensation will be composed of compensatory damages. As the name suggests, compensatory damages are intended to compensate an injury victim. Compensatory damages can include medical bills, the cost of future medical treatment, and, among other things, loss of income.

Loss of income may total more than someone might initially think. Consider, for a moment, the time an injury victim may need to take off from work following an accident. Accident injuries can often require rather extensive periods of rest and recuperation in order to properly heal. This time, in and of itself, can mean a notable loss of income due to time taken off from work. Loss of income can also come from missing out on commissions from sales, bonuses, and other job benefits as well as loss of wages.

It should also be noted that a loss of income claim need not be based on consecutive leave that occurred directly following the accident, although it can sometimes make up the bulk of the claim. In many cases, however, an injury victim will not only miss time from work immediately following the accident but will also miss work periodically over time due to injuries sustained in the accident. For instance, a claimant in a personal injury action may have missed work due to medical appointments, including physical therapy and medical procedures such as surgery. These days off from work and the resulting loss of income are also includable in a claim for lost income in a personal injury claim following an accident. The injured party would, of course, still need to prove that the missed work and loss of income were caused by the accident and accident injuries.

In order to prove loss of income in a personal injury claim, you will need clear and convincing evidence, just as you will need to prove your other damages. Some of the most useful pieces of evidence to show loss of income will likely include your pay stubs showing how much you were earning prior to the accident and a wage verification letter from your employer. Proving loss of income can also be done when you are self-employed through presenting evidence of your projected income you missed due to your accident incomes. Retain documents that will show loss of opportunities and income to help support your claim.

Personal Injury Attorney

At Hunt Law, we are committed to helping our clients receive full and fair compensation for all losses sustained as a result of an accident. Contact us today.