When you’re injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault, you could claim for any suffering and financial losses caused by your injuries. One of the biggest losses can be loss of earnings if your injuries prevent you from working. We’re often asked, “Can I claim compensation for loss of earnings?” and the answer is usually yes if you win your personal injury claim.

If you would like to know more about how to claim for loss of earnings, you can discuss your case with one of our specialists. They’ll review how you were injured and check if you have a realistic chance of receiving compensation. If you do, and a personal injury solicitor from our team agrees to work for you, they’ll manage the claims process on a No Win No Fee basis. As a result, the only time you’ll need to pay their legal fees is if you are awarded compensation.

To speak to us today, please call us on 0800 6524 881. Otherwise, please continue reading to find out more about claiming back loss of earnings.

Am I Eligible To Claim Compensation For Loss Of Earnings?

If you are involved in an accident caused by somebody else’s negligence, you could be awarded:

1. General damages, which include pain, trauma and loss of quality of life.
2. Special damages to cover any associated costs which could include any loss of earnings.

You can read more about the differences between general damages and special damages here.

In the majority of cases, our solicitors may be able to help you claim for loss of earnings as part of a personal injury claim if:

• The person you blame (the defendant) owed you a duty of care; and
• An act of negligence by the defendant caused an accident or incident; and
• You sustained injuries that led to loss of earnings as a result.

If you believe you’ve lost earnings as a result of an accident caused by somebody else, please speak with one of our specialists to see if you could be compensated.

How Is Loss Of Earnings Calculated In Personal Injury Claims?

If you make a personal injury claim and include the value of any earnings reduction resulting from your injuries, it’s important to get the calculation right.

The normal process of calculating loss of earnings is to work out how much you’d normally take home each month (your net pay) and calculate how much you earn a day. Then multiply that figure by the number of days you were unable to work as a result of your injuries.

Importantly, you’d then need to deduct any Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) you received while you were off work or any payment covered by your employer’s own sick pay policy.

Wage slips, bank statements or a copy of your most recent P60 could all help validate a loss of earnings claim.

Loss Of Commission & Overtime

Many workers earn additional income through working overtime or commission payments made on sales. These could also be included in your loss of earnings compensation.

For overtime, you’d need to prove that a) you normally work extra hours each month and b) overtime was available in the period you were off. This could be achieved by a letter from your employer.

A reduction in commission because of your injuries could be based upon the amount of money you’d earned in the 3-months preceding your accident or the amount you earned at the same time in previous years if your work is seasonal.

Getting Compensated For Loss Of Pension

If your injuries forced you to stay away from work for an extended period of time and this long period of absence jeopardised the pension that was due to you. Therefore you have a right to be reimbursed for loss of pension.

Claiming For Sick Days & Holiday Days

If you had not taken any sick or holiday days and they were used up while recovering from your injuries, you have a right to claim compensation for the value of sick days or holiday days lost because of the injuries.

You have worked hard the whole year round to earn these days off and should not have to lose them because of somebody else’s fault. Every sick day and holiday day that you’ve earned is counted as a day’s salary. This also goes for all national holidays and other bonus days off from work where every bonus day off represents a day’s income.

What About The Self-Employed?

When a self-employed worker is injured and makes a personal injury claim, it might not be as easy to prove their loss of income. This might be the case if they don’t usually produce wage slips for example.

However, compensation for loss of earnings may still be possible with the help of other documents. For example, you could print out copies of your SA302 calculation from HMRC, show any contracts you would’ve worked on during the period you were injured or supply your most recent bank statements to prove the average income you’d earned in recent months.

Claiming Compensation For Future Loss Of Earnings

While some injuries will heal fully and quickly, others can lead to life-long suffering. These types of injuries may have a detrimental effect on your ability to earn in the future.

For example, if you are a scaffolder injured at work that results in finger amputations due to a crushed hand, you may not be able to continue in your role. Similarly, if you suffered a spinal injury in a warehouse accident but cannot work for as long as before because of an ongoing back problem, your income could be restricted for years to come.

In these cases, your solicitor may be able to claim for future loss of earnings in addition to anything else you seek compensation for.

The amount you could receive will be calculated based on your current salary, your age and your job prospects i.e. would it be expected that you’d have been promoted in the future?

What Else Could I Claim Compensation For?

In addition to loss of earnings, you could be compensated for any of the following if your personal injury claim is successful:

• Your physical pain and suffering.
• Any form of mental harm such as depression, anxiety or distress.
• Loss of enjoyment of hobbies, family events and other activities.
• Medical costs including prescription fees and physiotherapy costs.
• The cost of repairing or replacing personal property damaged during your accident.
• Care costs.
• Travel expenses.
• Changes to your house to make it easier for you to cope with any ongoing disability.

If you work with a solicitor from our team, they’ll help you to calculate your loss of earnings and anything else you might be entitled to. In all cases, they’ll try to make sure that any payment you receive compensates you fully for your suffering.

How Much Compensation For My Injuries Could I Claim?

In many personal injury claims, loss of earnings can make up a substantial part of any compensation paid. Another large part of the award can be for general damages paid to cover the suffering your injuries caused. Our compensation calculator lists the most recent guidelines on how much compensation could be awarded for a range of injuries.

As well as proving how much income you’ve lost, you’ll need to prove the extent of your injuries. For that reason, your solicitor will book an independent medical review as part of your claim. The specialist who examines you will then produce a report for your solicitor to explain your prognosis.

How To Prove A Personal Injury Claim

It’s important to note that you won’t receive payment for any loss of earnings unless you win your personal injury claim. The types of evidence that might help you to do this include:

• Accident report forms.
• Medical records and x-rays.
• Witness statements.
• Photographs of the accident scene.
• Dashcam or CCTV footage.

While obtaining evidence might be a little time-consuming, it can really improve your chances of being compensated. That’s because most claims are handled by insurance companies who simply won’t pay out unless you can convince them why their client was to blame for your injuries.

If you work with a solicitor from our team, they’ll produce as strong a case as possible to try and make sure you’re compensated fairly.

Time Limits For Claiming Loss Of Earnings

In the UK, personal injury claims have a 3-year time limit. This means that you must start your claim within 3 years from:

• The date of your accident.
• When a GP diagnosed your injuries (date of knowledge).

If liability for your claim is accepted at an early stage, your solicitor may be able to secure interim payments from the defendant to cover your loss of income while the claim is still being processed.

For this reason and to make it easier to secure evidence, we believe it’s better to begin your claim as soon as possible.

Do I Need A Personal Injury Solicitor To Claim Loss Of Earnings Compensation?

No, you don’t. However, we firmly believe there are several advantages to using an experienced personal injury solicitor when you are claiming loss of earnings compensation.

Firstly, they will know exactly what you can claim for so you shouldn’t miss out on any reimbursements. With a solicitor in your corner, you can be sure that every bonus, perk, sick day, holiday day and overtime will be taken into consideration when filing the claim.

Secondly, having somebody else working on your behalf will give you time to recover from your injuries instead of stressing over them. The sooner you recover from your injuries, the sooner you can resume your regular activities and the sooner you can get back to work too.

Thirdly, in our case, you will not have to pay any upfront fees to benefit from the solicitor’s experience if you are ready to sign a No Win No Fee agreement. According to the terms of this agreement, you do not have to pay any legal fees upfront or at any time during the proceedings. The solicitor’s fees are only to be paid if your claim is successful and the court awards you damages for your injury.

Starting The Claims Process

We hope that you’ve found our guide helpful. If you’ve decided that you want to claim back earnings lost as a result of a no-fault accident, please call us on 0800 6524 881 today.

During your no-obligation case review, a specialist will examine the evidence and offer free advice on your options. If your claim is accepted, one of our solicitors will manage the case on a No Win No Fee basis.

If you have any additional questions about claiming loss of earnings compensation, please speak with one of our live chat advisors.