Proving Lost Wages in an Illinois Personal Injury Claim

 Posted on February 15, 2022 in Personal Injury

After a serious car crash or other major accident, you may be left unable to work. This inability to perform your job duties could be temporary or permanent. In other cases, you may still be able to work in some capacity but can no longer earn as much as you used to. If any of these situations apply to you, you may be able to recover your lost wages as part of your compensation in a personal injury claim. If another person or group negligently injured you and took you away from your job, that party may be liable for your missing income. 

If an accident or injury rendered you unable to work, even in the short term, you will want to speak with a qualified attorney as soon as you can. A skilled lawyer can help fight for you to receive the full amount of compensation you deserve. 

How Are Lost Wages Calculated? 

In general, there are three types of lost wages that can be recovered in a personal injury suit. They are: 

• Temporary loss - Often, a person who gets injured in an accident must take at least some time off from work. This could be as short as a few days, but other injuries can take months to recover from. Major injuries that require hospitalization can keep someone out of work for a long time. In this case, the injured victim may be entitled to recover the wages they normally would have earned during the time they were unable to work.
• Permanent disability - In some cases, a person’s injury is permanent. Injuries like paralysis or traumatic brain damage can permanently force someone out of the workforce. The amount of lost wages claimed in this event can be substantial - the entire amount the victim would have earned throughout the rest of their career could be recovered. 
• Career change - This is an odd middle ground, where an accident victim is not completely unable to work, but cannot go back to the career or job they were already in. For example, a doctor who suffers a brain injury may no longer be able to practice medicine, but could find a different, lower-paying job. In this case, the amount of lost wages claimed will be the difference in what the injured victim would have made if the accident never happened and the amount they are actually able to earn. 

Calculating the exact amount that should be demanded in a personal injury suit can be complicated. There are quite a few factors to consider, including probable inflation. If you missed work, stopped working, or changed careers due to an injury, you will want to speak to an attorney who can help with this calculation. 

Call an Illinois Personal Injury Attorney

If an accident caused by another party’s carelessness took you away from your job, Barrington Injury Attorneys may be able to recover your lost rages. Our skilled Lake County personal injury lawyers will help you calculate how much you lost in wages and fight for you to recover that amount. Call 224-900-HURT for a free consultation. 

Source:

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?ActiD=2017&ChapteriD=56&SeqStart=22050000&