Helpful tips and advice on recovering income.
It is common for a person injured in an accident to lose some employment related income because of the accident. These losses generally include time lost immediately after the accident while you are taking steps to open the claim, get medical care, arrange for the damaged vehicle, etc. Then, additional lost income may result from your injuries causing physical limitations for several days or weeks. Finally, with more serious injuries there can be permanent limitations or changes in employment. Income that can be shown to be lost due to the accident is part of the injury claim and should be recovered as part of an insurance settlement or judgment.
The best proof of lost income directly related to an accident will be records from your employer that show what you were paid and the time you were off due to the accident. You should make sure that the person at your work that tracks such things makes proper note in your records to show why you missed the time from work. You or your Arizona car accident attorney will later request a letter, affidavit, or other proof from them. Your own word alone is usually not sufficient to establish this loss.
If you are self-employed or if the income loss is severe, usually proof of general earnings, like tax documents, provides helpful proof of income before the accident, to show the contrast to post-accident earnings. If your injury reaches a level of permanency or severity that creates a long-term change in your ability to work, then the economic loss analysis involves several steps: 1) The establishment of an impairment rating; 2) A disability examination; 3) A vocational analysis of potential jobs you can do, and; 4) An economic analysis of the projected new income level verses the previous employment, as well as remaining projected years of employment. Even a person with a less severe injury will generally be better off with legal representation. However, if you experienced a more severe injury, with issues like permanency or longer term problems, your claim will be more complicated and you should seek legal counsel.
