Typical car accident injuries can keep a victim out of work for days, weeks, even months. Even simple injuries like a broken leg can require surgery to repair, and operation means recovery time. Whether your personal injuries keep you in the hospital or at home on doctor’s orders, time lost from work should be compensated for in a car accident injury settlement.
Compensation for lost wages after a car accident is possible when your injuries keep you from working and earning your regular paycheck. However, you must be able to show that if it weren’t for the injuries you sustained, you could continue to work and earn an income.
If a car accident results in permanent damage that prevents you from ever working again, you may be eligible for long-term compensation for the loss of your wage-earning ability. Victims can usually only get long-term compensation for severe injuries such as brain damage, spinal cord injuries, and amputations.
The caveat in these situations is that to collect compensation for lost wages, you must show that the car accident was mostly the fault of the other driver. Texas’s negligence laws will reduce the settlement value based on the degree of fault you are found to handle regarding the cause of the accident.
If the crash were completely the other driver’s fault, you should be able to collect the full settlement value. But if you are found to be 20 percent partially at fault your compensation will be reduced by 20 percent of the total value.
For those who are not working such as unemployed adults and children who are not old enough to have a job, lost wages compensation can still be possible. If you were actively looking for work prior to the accident and you can prove what you would have been making, you may be entitled to compensation for those potentially lost wages. This is a hard type of compensation to negotiate, and it’s best to work with a Texas personal injury lawyer to give your case a fighting chance at a fair settlement.
For children injured in car accidents, compensation for lost wages is typically only provided if the child is permanently injured and disabled. In this situation, the child’s earning potential is determined, and that becomes their lost wages compensation. This is another difficult type of case to take on by yourself, and your family will benefit from having an attorney to guide you through the injury claim process.
Winning compensation for lost wages can be difficult if you can’t prove regular income or that your injuries prevent you from working. This is on top of standard needs like compensation for property damage and pain and suffering. If your request for lost wages is denied or undervalued, contact The Law Office of Julie Johnson today to schedule a free consultation regarding your case. call us today at 214-290-8001.
