Some personal injury claims primarily involve negotiating with insurance companies. Others may require going to civil court. In either scenario, you will typically need to know the value of your damages to get the compensation that you need.
Some crash-related expenses are easy to value because they come with a price tag. Your hospital bills and the invoice from your mechanic will provide you with fixed prices for some of your losses. Other costs created by the crash, including your lost wages, can be harder to accurately establish.
You need to know at least roughly what you will lose in income to effectively negotiate with an insurance company or pursue a claim in civil court. How do you establish what your lost wages will cost you?
Look at your current income and injuries
What you made prior to the car crash is an important baseline for your claim. However, especially if you can no longer work at all, it would be wrong to assume that you would continue earning the same wage indefinitely.
Even cost-of-living wage increases annually would expand what you bring home every year. You may also have intended to pursue promotions and better opportunities within your industry before your injuries forced you to give up that dream. You may need to look at the wages you would have earned if you had been able to continue pursuing your chosen profession.
You also need to consider the value of your benefits. Many comprehensive benefits packages include health insurance, paid leave and additional forms of financial support from your employer. Those benefits could increase your annual wages by as much as 30%. Those lost benefits can also affect your family members if they counted on you for insurance. You also need to think about how your lost income may affect your financial stability during retirement, as you may no longer be in a position to continue adding to your savings.
It can be a challenge to objectively analyze your lost income following a car crash. The average person may struggle to put an appropriate price tag on their future earning potential. Partnering with a lawyer can help you better estimate your losses and negotiate the complexities of a compensation claim after a car wreck.