The following is a fictional illustration comprised of facts from several cases we have handled over the years:<\/p>\n
Jodi, a single mother, left home at 7:30 in the morning to drop her five year old at daycare.\u00a0After a kiss goodbye, she again got on the road headed to work as an independent\u00a0hair stylist.\u00a0 While stopped in traffic, Jodi was rear-ended by a young driver who failed to realize traffic in front of him had stopped.\u00a0 He struck Jodi\u2019s vehicle with considerable force thrusting her vehicle several feet forward into the car in front of her, causing damage to both the front and rear end her car.\u00a0 Consequently, Jodi\u2019s\u00a0right forearm struck the steering wheel fracturing her ulna\u00a0(elbow) bone.\u00a0 She also sustained a minor concussion, injury to the soft tissues of her neck (whiplash) and lower back pain.<\/p>\n
Jodi\u2019s arm was placed in a hard cast for several weeks and then graduated to a sling. \u00a0Six months after the accident the\u00a0fracture was healed\u00a0and she regained use of her arm.\u00a0 Unfortunately,\u00a0the injury to her neck and low back persisted.\u00a0 While she continued to improve with time, her medical condition became stationary and she was left with a\u00a0permanent disability.\u00a0 Jodi fought through the pain and made every effort to return to work.\u00a0 Eventually, however, the injuries prevailed and she was forced to relinquish her hair stylist profession and look for another vocation. \u00a0With her limited education, a young child to support, and endangered funds she accepted a position as an office receptionist earning thirty percent less than she did before.<\/p>\n
As the\u00a0plaintiff\u2019s advocate, a personal injury lawyer will focus his\/her energy on making the victim whole.\u00a0 This includes obtaining compensation for\u00a0loss of income\u00a0or wages.\u00a0 Wages, as you might deduce, are typically easier to calculate.\u00a0If you are earning an hourly rate of $10 and miss one hundred hours due to injuries sustained in a car accident you will be entitled to receive $1,000 in wage loss compensation.\u00a0 Loss of income may be more complex, difficult to identify, and sometimes require expert analysis.\u00a0 This is especially true if the victim is\u00a0self-employed or an independent contractor.<\/p>\n
Jodi\u2019s loss of income claim required an analysis of her\u00a0previous income and future income potential.\u00a0 As an independent hair stylist Jodi rented a chair at a salon and kept all of her earnings.\u00a0 At the time of the accident she had been working at the same salon for three years.\u00a0 She had developed a loyal client base, which was growing every year.\u00a0 In reviewing her income records it was clear that\u00a0her income had consistently increased each year.\u00a0\u00a0 The financial records presented an unequivocal trend suggesting future growth was all but inevitable.\u00a0 The insurance adjuster for the at-fault driver, however, did not agree.<\/p>\n
The loss of income claim for Jodi presented the most contentious part of her personal injury\u00a0settlement.\u00a0 The at-fault driver insurance company wanted to limit Jodi\u2019s compensation to six months (the time it took her arm to heal) and pay her what amounted to an average of what she earned the three years she had been a stylist.\u00a0 We contended that\u00a0using an average of her three years as a stylist was flawed\u00a0since it did not accurately reflect the true income she would have earned following the car accident.\u00a0 We further insisted that the loss of her income was not limited to the six month period.\u00a0\u00a0An economic and vocational expert\u00a0presented their reports of Jodi\u2019s true loss of income which included the time she was off of work entirely and her future loss of income given that she could not return to her previous vocation.\u00a0 The insurance adjuster ultimately agreed with our analysis and we were able to successfully settle the claim.<\/p>\n
A victim of a car accident is\u00a0entitled to receive compensation for their loss of income; past, present and future.\u00a0 After all, they wouldn’t have incurred this loss but for the other driver’s negligence.\u00a0 This loss includes the difference of what one would have earned in the future if they were not injured subtracted by what they now can now earn.\u00a0 This may also include a claim for vocational placement and retraining.\u00a0\u00a0This may not always be easy to ascertain, but that\u00a0DOES NOT\u00a0diminish the victim\u2019s right to fair compensation.\u00a0 Sometimes we just have to fight a little harder!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Can You Make A Loss Of Income Claim After A Car Accident? The following is a fictional illustration comprised of facts from several cases we have handled over the years: Jodi, a single mother, left home at 7:30 in the morning to drop her five year old at daycare.\u00a0After a kiss goodbye, she again got […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accident"],"yoast_head":"\n