Missing work because of a car accident hits you twice. The pain from the injury and the financial stress from the missing paychecks. Illinois law allows you to recover every dollar of lost income as part of your personal injury claim, but the documentation has to be right.
For W-2 employees, lost wages are relatively straightforward to prove. Your employer provides a letter confirming your dates of absence, your rate of pay, and the total wages lost. Pay stubs from before the accident establish your baseline earnings. Tax returns provide additional verification. If you used sick days or vacation days to cover the absence, those are still recoverable because you were forced to use a benefit you had earned for a purpose you did not choose.
For self-employed individuals, lost income is harder to prove but often more significant. You need tax returns from the prior two to three years to establish your average earnings. Profit and loss statements, bank statements, and invoices or contracts for work you could not perform provide supporting documentation. If you lost clients or contracts because you could not fulfill your obligations during recovery, the value of those lost business relationships is part of the claim.
Future lost earning capacity is the category most people forget about. If your injuries prevent you from returning to your former occupation or reduce your ability to work full-time, the future economic impact can dwarf the past lost wages. A vocational rehabilitation expert evaluates your pre-injury earning trajectory and your post-injury limitations. An economist converts the difference into a present-day dollar figure. For younger workers in high-earning professions, this number can be in the hundreds of thousands or millions.
Overtime, bonuses, and commissions are all recoverable. If you regularly worked overtime before the accident and cannot do so during recovery, the lost overtime is part of the claim. If you missed a bonus period or lost commissions because you were unable to work, those losses are compensable. The insurance company will try to limit your lost wages to base pay only. A lawyer makes sure the full picture is presented.
Document everything from day one. Get the employer letter immediately. Save all pay stubs and tax returns. If you are self-employed, start compiling financial records now. The stronger the documentation, the harder it is for the insurance company to dispute the number. Call me at 312-500-4500.
The first thing you have to do to get your wages paid after a car crash is to be able to prove where you worked, how much money per hour you make, and how many hours of work you lost. This is usually gotten from your employer HR department.
After we get our info and do the math, we make sure we submit both to the insurance company. If we did the math correctly and based it on numbers provided by the employer, there's little reason for fighting. But that often does not stop insurance companies from doing so and denying a claim for lost wages after a car accident.
If your case goes to Court, the rule is that we need your tax records for the year before, the year of, and the year after your injury to prove your age loss. Most Judges will bar your claim if you haven't filed taxes or did not turn over the tax returns when the Judge asked for them.
In Workers' Compensation cases, we can usually get TTD payments (Total Temporary Disability) weekly to keep money coming in.
But in car crash cases, there is no provision in the law for weekly or monthly payments to immediately replace a salary. Your options are making sure you are covered by a disability policy personally and/or at work, relying on savings and the help of your family, or as a last resort, considering a lawsuit loan.
I always caution my clients to consider their situation very carefully before taking out a lawsuit loan, even if they are short on money because of missing work because of a car crash. Those companies really help injured people who are in a very tough spot. But the cost of the loans is very expensive and the interest rates are high. And, there are some companies which are better than others, as far as rates and how easy it is for me to work with them at the end of your case. Lawsuit loan companies never loan money unless a reliable, well-known lawyer is involved in the case. This is because lawsuit loan companies want a case accepted by a lawyer to kind of guarantee that the case is okay.
Yes — lost wages are a component of economic damages in a personal injury case. You can recover income you actually lost because of your injuries, including wages, salary, self-employment income, bonuses, and other compensation. You need documentation: pay stubs, employer letters confirming missed time, and medical records showing you were unable to work. I build the lost wage claim as part of the overall damages package from the start of your case.
Self-employed income loss is recoverable but requires more documentation than a standard wage claim. Tax returns, profit and loss statements, client invoices, and records of lost contracts or jobs all help establish the loss. Insurance companies scrutinize self-employment income claims more aggressively than W-2 wage claims. I work with accountants and economic experts when necessary to document self-employment income loss accurately and persuasively.
Yes — future lost earning capacity is one of the most significant components of a serious personal injury case. If your injuries permanently limit your ability to work at the same capacity, profession, or hours as before the accident, you can recover the present value of that future loss. Vocational experts and economic experts testify about earning capacity loss. These future damages can be worth significantly more than current medical bills in cases involving permanent injury or career-ending conditions.
Yes — in Illinois, the collateral source rule generally prevents the defendant from reducing your damages because you received compensation from another source like sick leave or disability insurance. The fact that your employer was generous doesn't benefit the at-fault driver. However, your employer may have a right to reimbursement from your settlement for sick pay they advanced. I navigate these subrogation issues as part of the case resolution. Call 312-500-4500 for a free evaluation.
Would you like to know more about lost wages from car accident?
If you or a loved one is dealing with a situation like this, give us a call any time, day or night. We are here to help. 312-500-4500
Scott DeSalvo founded DeSalvo Law to help injured people throughout Chicago and surrounding suburbs. Licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1998, IARDC #6244452, Scott has represented over 3,000 clients in personal injury, workers compensation, and accident cases.
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