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Damages after a car accident in Seattle, WA, can include lost wages. If you had to miss work due to an accident or injury caused by another person’s negligence, you can seek reimbursement for past and future lost income with the help of a Seattle personal injury lawyer. Additionally, you can include reductions in earning capacity due to the accident. This means if you suffered a long-term or permanent disability, you can seek financial compensation for the decrease in your future ability to earn.
Losing income due to an accident can cause serious financial hardship for victims and their loved ones in Seattle, Washington. If another person is found responsible for your injuries, they (or their insurer) can be required to pay for your lost wages. Achieving this result is not always simple, however, and is best done with the help of an experienced Seattle personal injury
attorney at Davis Law Group Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers. Contact us today at 206-727-4000.
If you were injured in a car accident in Seattle, WA, you may be able to recover damages, including lost wages. However, it can be challenging to do this on your own.
When you hire our Seattle personal injury lawyer, you expect us to do the following:
Contact our law office today to schedule a free consultation with a Seattle car accident attorney.
Whether you have filed an insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit, damages after a car accident generally fall into two different categories: economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages are costs and expenses that can be calculated from bills, invoices, and other documentation.
Economic damages can include:
Non-economic damages are harder to quantify because they involve emotional trauma, such as pain and suffering, mental distress, loss of companionship, and other factors that hinder a person’s ability to get their lives back on track. Non-economic damages are usually estimated based on a person’s individual circumstances.
In most cases, calculating lost income can be simple. If you receive regular paychecks from your employer, you can use pay stubs to show your normal hours and rate of pay. You’d then factor in the hours and pay that you missed due to the accident. If you are paid on salary, you will count the days or partial days that you were not paid for because of your injuries.
In other situations, calculating lost income after a car accident can require extra steps. ‘
Some types of income that need extra review include:
If you are employed in the service industry, such as at a restaurant, bar, or entertainment venue, you might earn most of your income through tips. How do you calculate loss of tips after a car accident? Often, this is done by calculating your average tips per shift and multiplying that by the number of missed work shifts. Car accident attorneys with experience in this area would be able to assist further and establish a calculation that accurately reflects your lost tips.
If your income involves commissions, you can’t simply use pay stubs to prove lost income. To calculate missed commissions after a car accident, you would likely base that on an average of commissions earned during each day you worked. This would help you arrive at a fair representation of lost commissions due to a car accident. Again, a lawyer with a background in these cases can help.
Many employers offer period bonuses each month or each pay period. Bonuses can be based on hours worked or performance goals reached. If an accident prevents you from working regular hours or meeting your goals, your bonuses could be lost.
Can you get reimbursed for bonuses you should have earned due to a car accident? In most cases, you can, and this again involves using past bonuses and performance to estimate what you should have received.
If the accident victim does not have a job outside the home but helps with household activities, they could include their household contributions among their damages. For example, they could claim reimbursement for transportation, childcare, cooking, cleaning, nursing, and personal help. If the victim’s ability to do any of these things was impacted by the car accident, they could include these activities among their economic damages.
If your long-term ability to earn a living was affected by the accident, you can seek compensation for future lost wages as well. For example, if you are a construction worker and suffer a permanent back injury, your future wages will be reduced, and you can request reimbursement for that income.
To prove limited earning capacity, you will need to show with reasonable certainty that your wages will be reduced in the future due to the accident. This is usually done through a combination of medical evidence and proof of past income from your job.
Before you can be paid for lost wages (past and future), you will need to show that the other party was negligent and responsible for your injuries.
An experienced Seattle personal injury lawyer is trained to prove four essential elements of negligence:
If you were hurt in a car accident in Seattle, WA, and your ability to work and earn income was impacted, a skilled lawyer can help you recover. Our dedicated Seattle car accident lawyers know the financial suffering that comes with a car accident and missed work. Don’t hesitate to contact our office and schedule your free consultation, call us at 206-727-4000.
2101 4th Ave #1030,
Seattle, WA 98121
Phone: 206-727-4000
Complete this CONFIDENTIAL form or call 206-539-0939 for a FREE consultation.
Complete this CONFIDENTIAL form or call 206-727-4000 for a FREE consultation.
