Car Accident Injuries: Recovering Lost Wages in Florida
A car accident injury can cause you a tremendous amount of direct loss. Further, your injury might prevent you from earning money. If your car accident injuries have cost you time on the job, you are entitled to seek damages for the full extent of your financial losses. An experienced Tampa Bay car accident attorney can help.
Calculating Your Damages
Calculating potential recovery for lost wages can become complicated. Every work situation is unique. Increasingly many Floridians earn money in complex ways. Injury victims are entitled to recovery for:
- Lost time on the job;
- Loss of long-term earning ability; and
- Loss of career opportunities.
The precise calculation of your damages will always depends on the specific facts of your case. For example, imagine that you are paid by the hour and you suffer a car accident injury that keeps you off the job for two weeks. However, after that-two week period, you will be able to return to your previous position. In that case, the court could simply look at your rate of pay and your hours missed on the job to determine your damages. However, the calculation will be far more complex if you car accident injury requires you to miss long-term time at work, permanently reduces your ability to do your job, or reduces your ability for you to advance in your field. Ultimately, your car accident lawyer should comprehensively review your individual circumstances to ensure that your loss of earning ability is being fully considered.
Lost Wages: Evidence is Critical
Even if the other driver’s insurance company has fully accepted blame for the accident, recovering compensation for the full extent of your losses will still be challenging. Even after the other driver’s negligence has been established, you will still need extensive supporting documentation to recover for your lost wages. Specifically, you will need to prove that:
- You actually lost out on earnings; and
- Your injury was severe enough that it prevented you from being able to work.
Some of this evidence could be relatively straightforward. For example, you might need a supporting letter from your employer stating the time you missed on the job and how much you would have been paid. On the other hand, the insurance company might fiercely dispute your claims. It is common for insurance companies to understate the severity of injuries. Insurance companies often try to force injury victims back on the job before they are truly ready for it. A successful lost wages claim will require sufficient medical evidence that supports the fact that you are not able to work.
Contact Our Office Today
At The Pawlowski//Mastrilli Law Group, our experienced car accident attorneys fight aggressively to help victims recover full and fair compensation. We will help you hold the negligent party accountable for the full extent of your damages, including any lost wages or loss of earning capacity. If you have any questions about recovering lost wages, or Florida car accidents in general, please contact our office today at 813-242-4404 to schedule a free review of your case. Our team is based in Tampa Bay, but we help protect the rights of injured car accident victims throughout the area, including in Saint Petersburg and Tarpon Springs.
