When you experience a car accident, you could suffer from a number of damages, including lost wages. Lost wages are income you lose while you get treated for your injuries at the hospital. The longer your treatment and recovery period is, the more earnings you lose.
Things are easier when it comes to calculating the damages of an employee. However, when you are self-employed, things can get a bit complicated. Still, it is nothing a Philadelphia car accident attorney cannot help you with. Hire one today to explore your options and recover the compensation you deserve.
Claiming lost wages when you are self-employed
Claiming lost wages after a car accident is complex when you are self-employed. Income may not be consistent every day. This especially happens with people with businesses of their own. You need to make an estimate of what you might have earned on your missed working days.
Your attorney may need to take the help of an expert witness to make the calculations. Since their opinions are considered valuable in court, hiring an expert witness can go a long way.
Lost wages
The term “lost wages” for employees often means their monthly salary or hourly wages. However, for self-employed people, it is different. These are earnings that you would have earned had the accident not taken place at all. These may include recent profits, lost business opportunities, upcoming contracts, and lost goodwill.
Remember that lost wages are not lost earning capacity. Lost earning capacity is a type of damage that is awarded when a person acquires injuries that prevent them from returning to work at all.
How to document economic losses after a car accident?
Documented proof is the best kind of evidence you can collect for your car accident claim. When dealing with the insurance company, your attorney will probably ask you to provide the following information:
- Tax returns
- Receipts for any overhead costs paid
- Profit and loss statements
- Proof of lost projects or customers
The next step: Hiring an attorney
If you are self-employed and have been involved in a car accident case, you may be confused about how to determine your lost income. Since business owners do not have a fixed income, putting a number on the compensation is difficult. Your best option is to hire a skilled and experienced car accident attorney.
An attorney has the resources to make these complex calculations, allowing you to rest and heal your injuries.
