Collecting Lost Wages And Loss Of Earning Capacity After A Car Accident
When a car accident causes major injuries to a person, this person might temporarily or permanently lose their ability to work. Without the ability to work, this person would have no way to earn money to live. If this sounds familiar due to the injuries you currently have from a car accident, it is important for you to understand that you might be able to receive compensation for lost wages and loss of earning capacity, and here are a few things to understand about these types of compensation.
The definition of lost wages
Lost wages and loss of earning capacity are two totally different things, but the easiest to understand is lost wages. Lost wages refers to the amount of money you directly lost from not being able to go to work after you were injured in an accident. For example, if you missed two weeks of work and were not paid your $500 a week wages like usual, you could ask for $1,000 in lost wages because this is the amount of money you actually lost by not being able to work.
The definition of loss of earning capacity
The definition of loss of earning capacity is a much bigger term than lost wages, as it refers to the amount of money you will lose in the future by not being able to earn money at all, or be able to earn as much, due to your injuries. If you will never be able to work again, you can ask for money to compensate you for this, and you can add in the cost of inflation and raises. If you will be able to work again but not be able to earn as much money, you can ask for money to compensate you for the difference in wages for the rest of your life.
Ways to calculate these things
There really is no easy method to compute the amount of loss of earning capacity you have inherited from the injuries you incurred, but car accident attorneys are able to use formulas to estimate this amount. The goal is to make sure that you ask for an amount that will cover all the lost wages for your entire future, which often results in a large amount of money.
If your life is totally different now that you have major injuries from a car accident, you should seek compensation. If you would like to learn more about this, contact a personal injury law firm today.
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