How to Calculate Lost Wages in a Car Accident

All vehicle accidents cause damage to one or more parties. These damages may be in the form of medical expenses or property damages. But sometimes, a driver or passenger’s injury may become so serious that it makes him incapacitated to go to work and perform his tasks. If this happens, the driver would not earn anything to fund his medication and other damages.

Fortunately, these losses are also included in the victim’s damages. If the victim files a personal injury complaint against the party that was responsible for the accident and he wins, he would be able to regain most of his losses, including lost earnings. However, filing dispute cases and calculating lost earnings are complicated tasks so you need a personal injury lawyer to patch these things up for you. Following is a step-by-step guide in order to recover the right amount of lost wages you deserve:

1. Identify your annual salary and divide it by 2,080. This would provide you an estimated amount of your hourly rate. With this number, you can obtain the amount of your lost earnings easier.
2. Multiply the exact number of work days missed by eight. Make sure that you missed a certain number of work days because of your injury or disability, and not anything else.
3. Get the result of step 1 and multiply it to the result of step 2.

Using these steps, you would be able to identify the exact amount of your lost earnings. Before filing a personal injury claim against the other party, consider these factors first:

• An injury should be the reason why you were not able to go to work.
• The injury should be caused by the negligence of an individual or party.
• The lost wages award is not the same as future wages award.

Once you have taken note of these things, you will have better chances of winning the lawsuit and obtaining the compensation. Severe injuries and temporary disabilities are indeed devastating for employees, especially those who are breadwinners of their families. But with the help of an attorney, you may be able to pull through using the compensatory damages you received from the responsible party.



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