How to Prove Lost Wages/Income in a Waldorf, MD Auto Accident Claim?
If you have been injured in an auto accident here in Waldorf or any other part of Southern Maryland, you have a personal injury claim. You can bring an insurance claim against the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier, and you can also file a personal injury lawsuit here in the Maryland courts. You can also sue ANY AND ALL of the at-fault parties if the facts show that others were partially responsible for the accident and the injuries. Such other parties might include a third driver or the auto maintenance shop that made faulty repairs.
One category of damages for which an injured party can recover is lost wages or lost income. Sometimes proving the amount of lost wages/income is relatively easy. Other times, the process of providing evidence and “proving up” the amount is a bit more complex. This is one reason to schedule a consultation with experienced and seasoned Waldorf, Maryland, car or auto accident lawyers like the ones here at the Law Office of Robert Castro. Our number is (301) 870-1200.
For most insurance carriers, proving lost wages/income is done via a form sent to the victim’s employer. This is often called a Wage Verification Form. The form asks for various identifying information and then asks the employer to give information about current wages, hourly pay, overtime, benefits, and other wage/income-related data. This information sets the “baseline” in the sense of what the accident victim was earning before the accident. Typically, the form will then ask for information about the victim’s hours, days worked and earnings for the period after the accident. It is FROM this form and information that a victim’s lost wages/earnings are calculated. In other words, the employer does not calculate the lost wages/earnings but only provides the information used in the calculation.
Note that your claim for lost wages/earnings includes other items beyond hourly wages, such as potentially lost overtime, lost accrued benefits (like hours and days of paid vacation), employer contributions to retirement accounts, etc. All of these can be included in your claim for compensation following a Maryland auto accident.
Other documents can be used to supplement a Wage Verification Form (or as alternative forms of proof). These include the victim’s W-2 form from the last couple of tax years, paystubs, and tax returns.
For those who are self-employed, proving lost income is more complicated. In those cases, bank records, client invoices, tax returns, profit, loss, and income statements, and other forms of proof will be required.
In addition to proving the amount of lost wages/income, it is generally necessary to prove the connection between the injuries and the lost wages/income. This generally means some documentation concerning your inability to work, which is often your doctor’s note that you are unable to work or that you can return to work on a specified date. This is a function of the type of work and your ability to do the work.
Contact Waldorf, MD Personal Injury Attorney Robert Castro Today
This article has been provided by the Law Office of Robert Castro. For more information or questions, contact our office to speak to an experienced Maryland personal injury lawyer at (301) 870-1200. We are Waldorf, MD, Personal Injury lawyers. Our address is 2670 Crain Highway, Waldorf, MD, 20601.
