A serious car accident impacts your life in myriad ways—including preventing you from working.
Your injuries may result in a temporary or permanent inability to work. Texas law permits an injured accident victim to recover past and future lost wages.
However, pursuing a lost wage claim is complicated and requires the assistance of a qualified personal injury attorney.
What Are Lost Wages?
Lost wages represent the money you would have earned when out of work due to a car accident.
Lost wages refer to all the income, earnings, tips, compensation, sick leave, vacation pay, overtime, commission, business income, employment benefits, and bonuses of an injured person out of work due to a car accident.
Will Car Insurance Pay for Missed Work?
Who pays for your lost wages depends on how you decide to pursue compensation after your crash.
The At-Fault Driver’s Insurance Company
The at-fault party’s insurance company holds responsibility for damages resulting from a car accident.
Therefore, your personal injury attorney may assist you with an insurance claim if another driver is liable for you sustaining injuries and missing work due to a car accident.
The At-Fault Driver
If your damages, including lost wages, exceed what the at-fault driver’s insurance policy covers, you may file a lawsuit directly against the at-fault driver.
But this route presents some difficulty because individual drivers are often unable to pay a judgment against them, so it’s usually better to pursue compensation from someone with the ability to pay, which is typically the insurance company.
Your Insurance Company
If the other driver was uninsured or underinsured and you have uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage, you may recover damages from your own insurance provider.
You probably have UM/UIM coverage unless you explicitly declined it.
Employers of Negligent Parties
If the at-fault driver was working at the time of our accident, you might be able to recover damages against their employer.
For example, if you were put out of work due to a car accident with a truck driver, the trucking company may be responsible for the actions of its negligent driver.
Your Employer’s Insurance Provider
If your car accident occurred when you were working, your personal injury attorney can assist you in filing a workers’ compensation claim to recover benefits from that policy.
However, lost wages are not guaranteed in workers’ compensation cases, and you may be able to recover only a percentage of your total lost wages.
Other Negligent Parties
Anyone that caused your car accident may be held legally and financially responsible for your lost wages.
For this reason, you need to contact a personal injury attorney to investigate your accident and identify all possible liable parties.
Once identified, your attorney may then move forward with pursuing compensation from all responsible persons.
What Do I Have to Prove?
To recover from a wage loss claim, you must prove your income losses. Your attorney supports proof of lost wages in the form of the following:
- Pay stubs,
- Employment documents like a company handbook,
- A letter from your employer,
- W2s and tax documents,
- Customer invoices and billing statements, and
- Medical records.
Loss of income due to your injuries must exist before filing the lawsuit.
Contact Us
With over 85 years of combined legal experience, the attorneys at The Zimmerman Law Firm, P.C. understand the complexity of personal injury cases.
Our team prepares every personal injury case for trial because we know it gives you the best opportunity for a successful result.
We pride ourselves on providing zealous representation, competent and credible expertise, personal service, and the necessary resources to maximize your financial recovery.
Contact us today for a free consultation and learn how we can help you recover your lost wages.
Michael Zimmerman
Michael was born in Houston, Texas. His education at Baylor and Texas State Universities earned him a Bachelor of Science degree in 1987. His major was in Biology with a Minor in Chemistry. He finished his legal education at Texas Southern University in 1990, earning a Juris Doctorate from Thurgood Marshall School of Law. He was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1990.
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