If you are in a car accident and are wondering whether the at fault party’s insurance company has made you a fair offer for the damage to your property and injuries you sustained, the best advice is to speak with an experienced personal injury attorney to evaluate your case to determine if you are receiving a fair settlement offer. When you are injured in a car accident you will need all the compensation you deserve, including for lost wages, in order to fully recover.
Who is responsible for my lost income after a car accident?
Of course the first step when you are injured in a car accident is to see a doctor for an examination and treatment. When you incur costs for medical treatment or miss work due to your injuries, and/or have property damage to your car, these easily verified expenses will typically be reimbursed by the at fault party’s insurance company.
What about my future loss of earning?
Earnings may not only include past earnings, but also future lost earrings, which is a matter of showing it is reasonably certain you will lose future income due to the injury. This will typically boil down to medical records showing a doctors authorization for a release from work or a doctor noting that you should restrict activities which support time off from work. It is therefore important to ensure that your medical records are well documented to support your request for not only lost wages but future lost wages.
Once you have justified that time off was necessary, the insurance company will require documentation showing what wages were lost. This might include pay stubs, time cards, or tax returns. Sick leave or vacation time used due to the injury may also be compensable. If you are self-employed, earning history from tax returns or profit and loss statements may be used to prove the value of lost earnings and point to a figure for future lost earnings.
Before signing the insurance settlement, speak with an experienced Iowa car accident attorney. Call 515-244-1473 or send an email for your free case evaluation with our Iowa car accident attorneys. We are conveniently located near the Des Moines civic center, and we have Spanish and Bosnian translators available.
