A lot of people who suffer debilitating injuries in an accident that was caused through no fault of their own end up losing earnings from time off of work. It’s one of the most common classes of financial losses that’s involved in a claim for compensation. Many people only receive statutory sick pay when they are off work for long periods of time; if you are lucky enough to have a company sick pay that pays you in full, this may not apply to you too much – but if it’s only a partial pay, then read on!
Anyone who loses out on earnings through being unable to work is entitled to make a claim for this loss that forms as part of their overall compensation claim. Your claim comes in to two parts – General Damages, and Special Damages. General Damages covers the injury itself, and Special Damages covers the financial loses, to which lost earnings are a part of.
Its normally pretty easy to work it out as well – if you have two weeks off of work and you are paid absolutely nothing, you are entitled to claim two weeks work of full earnings back. If you were paid Statutory Sick Pay, then you claim back the difference between that and the lost earnings. If you receive half pay through a company sick pay policy, than you claim back the other lost half as part of the claim.
The idea is to put you back in the position you were in financially before the accident occurred – i.e. like the accident never happened. We can’t take the injuries and the pain and suffering away from you, but we can compensate you for it and make sure that any financial losses you incur are recovered as part of the claim.
We normally work it out by assessing what you were earning 13 weeks on average before the accident. Your lawyers will normally ask you to provide 13 weeks’ worth of wage slips prior to the date of your accident to work out what you have lost out on.
There are of course certain factors that can make it a little more complicated to work out exactly what it is that you are entitled to claim for. If you receive regular bonuses, or were due to receive a bonus for a particular month you were off, or if there is any form of fluctuation in your earnings that you have lost out on, it can still be accounted for. All losses are a grey area when it comes to claiming for them, but with the right evidence and documentation to prove your loss, you shouldn’t have any trouble recovering them.
If you are self employed, we can review profit and loss accounts for three years prior to your accident to look at how much you have potentially lost out on. In circumstances like these, it all comes down to individual circumstances. With an expert personal injury lawyer on your side, they will guide you through the process of making sure that you don’t lose out financially whatsoever.
Any good injury lawyer will do all they can to ensure that you are put back in the financial position you were in before the accident ever happened. Make sure you go for a specialist injury lawyer to ensure that your claim for losses is always maximised.
For advice on lost earnings or claiming for compensation, or to start a claim with us, a specialist firm of independent personal injury lawyers, call our free claims helpline on 0800 634 75 75 today.
