If you are injured in an accident you may have to take time off work while you recover. If the accident is not our fault, you are entitled to be reimbursed for the money you lose during this time. This goes for accidents resulting from a homeowner’s or business person’s negligence, an automobile accident, or any accident where another party is liable.
Do your Paperwork
The at-fault party will provide you with paperwork from their insurance company, if they are covered. If you want to claim for lost wages and time, you will need to be careful about filling out the paperwork. Make sure they have all the appropriate details about your accident, and your bank information. Failure to fill out the paperwork correctly can delay your settlement significantly.
Salary Lost
If you are salaried, and you continue to earn a wage while incapacitated, you may not be able to claim. If, however, your employer puts you on unpaid leave, then you will be able to claim for those lost wages. It should be easy to determine how much to claim.
Hourly or daily wages
If you are paid hourly or daily, the amount you claim depends on the number of hours of work you missed. Not everyone works the same amount all the time. To determine how much to claim, you may need to average over the last few months. Some jobs are seasonal, like caterers around Christmas time. Look at previous years to determine how many hours or days you could have worked, and then multiply that by your current wage.
Self-employed wages
The self-employed are particularly vulnerable to missed wages. They often lack the safety net that a large corporation provides. Their client base may disappear while they are injured, leaving them to start over from scratch, rebuilding their business. They have a right to be reimbursed for lost wages as well as the impact their hiatus has on their business’ volume.
Time not advancing career
If you are incapacitated for months, years or indefinitely, this will have an effect on your career. During that time you would, presumably, have been moving up in your company, receiving bonuses, and being promoted. You should be reimbursed for the lost wages due to not being promoted as well. A long hiatus will affect your career for many years, maybe forever. How much you have missed out on may be difficult to calculate, and you may need professional advice on how to do this.
See a Legal Professional
If you have a hard time determining how much you are entitled to be reimbursed, consider finding a lawyer to help you out. They can work out how much you should claim by looking at industry standards for expensing lost time on insurance claims. You may be entitled to more than you think!