YES! … Lost Wages (if you are an employee) and Lost Income (if you are self-employed) are recoverable from the date of accident until the day you return to work. Your employer will need to verify that you were not able to work and your medical provider needs to give you a documented work release to take time off work. If you simply take off work without a doctor’s note, the insurance company will often contest whether or not you were actually able to work or not. You will also have to prove how much money you have lost as a result of the injuries sustained from the accident typically accomplished by a letter on your employer’s letterhead that indicates how much time was taken off and what your gross pay was for that period of time. Copies of your prior pay stubs are also helpful to prove prior earnings and typical work schedule. Even if you used vacation or sick time you are still entitled to your lost earnings for that period because you would not have used up your vacation and/or sick time but for being injured.
If you are self-employed you are entitled to claim income loss if you’ve been unable to work as a result of injuries incurred in an accident. A self-employed person may also be entitled to the costs associated with having to hire additional and/or substitute workers to perform tasks which are necessary to maintain the business which were ordinarily are performed by the injured individual. If you are self-employed, in order to prove loss of income as a result of being injured, you may have to show past income tax records, the more years generally the better, to prove what you’ve earned in the past to indicate what you’re likely losing now.
Unfortunately, a problem with this is that the past years don’t always tell the story of the current year, or the future. It’s usually also helpful to provide your calendar of appointments, and possibly obtain letters from those with whom you planned doing business in order to strengthen any future lost income claim. While difficult to prove lost opportunities, letters from potential clients and/or partners, can prove very helpful.