How Do You Prove Loss Of Earnings For An Injury Claim?
Last updated 5th July 2023. By Lewis Aaliyah. In this guide, we’ll explain what evidence you could provide in order to claim compensation for loss of earnings after being injured due to negligence. You could potentially experience a loss of income if you were injured due to negligence and needed to take time off work to recover.
Loss of earnings for an injury claim
This guide will explore the best ways to evidence loss of earnings after a workplace injury. It’s important for you to regain the money you’ve lost, as you shouldn’t have to financially suffer due to someone else’s negligence.
When you make a claim for personal injury compensation can be split into two segments. The first is general damages, which is compensation for the injury itself. The second part is special damages, which compensate for the financial loss the injury has caused.
You must provide evidence in order to receive special damages, so you must prove loss of earnings in order to be compensated for it. This article will explore what evidence you can gather and how you can attain it.
Get In Touch With Our Team
Are you wondering how to prove loss of income after taking sick leave from work due to an injury? Our team of advisers are on hand 24/7 to offer free legal advice. They can chat with you to learn more about your situation, before passing you onto our panel of personal injury lawyers.
Our panel of personal injury solicitors can then discuss No Win No Fee agreements with you and plan how you can prove a loss of earnings. We recommend you contact our team of advisers by:
- Calling us 020 3870 4868 – We’re here to help 24/7
- Starting your claim online
- Use the pop-up chat window in the corner
Services And Information
- Everything You Need To Know About How To Prove Loss Of Earnings
- What Does Loss Of Earnings Mean?
- Loss Of Earnings Claim – When Am I Eligible To Claim?
- Personal Injury Compensation Calculator
- Claiming Loss Of Earnings – How Much Could I Receive?
- How To Prove Future Loss Of Earnings
- Proving Lost Overtime, Sick Pay And Other Benefits
- How Do I Prove Lost Pension Contributions?
- How To Make a Loss of Earning Claim When Self-Employed
- Evidence That Could Help You Prove Loss Of Earnings
- Personal Injury Claim Time Limits
- Do You Handle Loss Of Earnings Claims On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- Other Information
- FAQs About Loss Of Earnings Claims
Everything You Need To Know About How To Prove Loss Of Earnings
If your employer doesn’t provide company sick pay that covers your period of absence, you could experience a loss of earnings when you take time off from work due to an injury. This guide will discuss in depth what exactly loss of earnings means and when you could claim for it.
There are also some statistics on the frequency and types of work injuries reported, some of which could lead to a claim for loss of earnings in the UK. Later sections of this guide cover potential compensation amounts you may be offered, guidance on proving the loss of different forms of income you may be receiving and how you could claim with a No Win No Fee solicitor.
What Does Loss Of Earnings Mean?
To receive the money back that you’ve lost through taking sick leave from work, you’ll need to prove how much money you lost. You’ll also need to provide evidence in order to prove you suffered financially due to your injury. If you work a set amount of hours and earn a set salary, it could be quite straightforward for you or your personal injury lawyer to calculate your loss of earnings.
However, if you work different hours each week, it can be a little more complicated. If you choose to use the services of a personal injury lawyer, they might look at your past wage slips and bank statements over the past few months to calculate your average earnings. This figure could then equate to your loss of earnings.
You could also investigate how many extra hours you’re usually paid for each month to estimate how much overtime pay you’ve lost. This may all sound long-winded and complicated. A solicitor could work this out for you.
You can contact our team of advisers today to receive free legal advice regarding your loss of earnings claim. Once an adviser has learned more about your situation, they could connect you with our expert panel of personal injury lawyers who can discuss No Win No Fee agreements with you and begin your personal injury claim. Let us help you gain your loss of earnings back today.
Loss Of Earnings Claim – When Am I Eligible To Claim?
If you’ve suffered a loss of income as a direct result of negligence, you might be eligible to claim for this loss.
A valid loss of earnings claim must be related to a personal injury claim. In order to figure out if you are valid to claim for an injury, you should consider if:
- A duty of care was owed to you
- The defendant breached this duty
- You subsequently suffered harm
Depending on where your injury was sustained, the duty of care that is owed to you is set out by various legislation. For example:
- In the workplace: Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, your employer has a duty of care to protect your health, safety and welfare.
- In public areas: As outlined in the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, occupiers of a premise owes a duty of care to ensure that visitors are reasonably safe whilst on their premises
- On the roads: The Road Traffic Act 1988 states that motorists have a duty of care to drive with due care, attention and reasonable consideration for other road users
- In medical settings: Medical practitioners have a duty to provide care at a level reasonably expected of any medical professional
If you were injured due to a breach of duty of care, you could potentially be eligible to claim for your injuries and any resulting financial loss such as a loss of income. We’ll discuss examples of evidence further in this guide. Additionally, we’ll let you know how to claim for a future loss of earnings.
Personal Injury Compensation Calculator
Personal injury settlements can comprise up to two heads of claim. General damages compensate for the injury itself and the physical and mental effects it has on your life. The level of award depends on factors such as how long your treatment lasts and how long it takes you to recover.
We could provide a personal injury claims calculator; however, every case is unique. We wish to refrain from offering you inaccurate and confusing advice so, instead, we have compiled a table with figures based on the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG is a regularly updated publication that solicitors may use when valuing injuries.
The table below shows the compensation amounts some people could achieve based on specific injuries and their severity/level of injury. There is also an extra section explaining what symptoms the injuries may include and what the awarded bracket could be.
| Part of Body: | Level of Injury: | Compensation Amount: | Injuries may Include: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shoulder Injuries | Severe | £19,200 to £48,030 | Associated with neck injuries and involving damage to the brachial plexus. |
| Shoulder Injuries | Moderate | £7,890 to £12,770 | Frozen shoulder with limited movement and discomfort and some symptoms persisting for over two years. |
| Injuries to the Pelvis and Hips | Severe | £78,400 to £130,930 | Extensive fractures to the pelvis involving dislocation of a low back joint and a ruptured bladder. |
| Injuries to the Pelvis and Hips | Moderate | £26,590 to £39,170 | Significant injuries to the pelvis and hips but any permanent disability is not major and any future risk is not great. |
| Elbow Injuries | A severely disabling injury. | £39,170 to £54,830 | A severely disabling injury. |
| Elbow Injuries | Less Severe Injuries | £15,650 to £32,010 | Injuries causing function impairment but not involving major surgery or significant disability. |
| Wrist Injuries | Loss of Function (a) | £47,620 to £59,860 | Complete loss of wrist function, for example where an arthrodesis has been carried out. |
| Wrist Injuries | Disability (b) | £24,500 to £39,170 | Permanent disability, but some useful movement remains. |
| Hand Injuries | Total or Effective Loss of Both Hands | £140,660 to £201,490 | Serious injuries resulting in major damage to both hands, leaving them useless. |
| Hand Injuries | Serious Damage to Both Hands | £55,820 to £84,570 | Injuries that have given rise to permanent cosmetic disability and a significant loss of function. |
Compensation For Loss Of Earnings And Other Special Damages
Special damages compensate for the financial losses caused by your injuries. For example, compensation for loss of earnings, both future and past, could be awarded under this head of claim. This can include where your injuries have prevented you from working while recovering from your injuries, or permanently. It can also cover instances where your injuries have meant you need to undertake a different form of employment. Evidence, such as payslips, can be provided to prove any losses.
Other examples of financial losses that might be awarded under special damages can include:
- Care costs – For example, your injuries may cause you to need a full time carer. These costs can be reimbursed if you retain any invoices.
- Prescription fees – For instance, you may need medication to alleviate symptoms of your injury. Keep hold of any prescription receipts as evidence of this expense.
If you have any additional questions ahead of claiming for a loss of earnings or other costs under special damages, please do not hesitate to contact our advisors for free advice. They can also connect you to an expert personal injury lawyer from our panel to help you obtain loss of earnings compensation.
Claiming Loss Of Earnings – How Much Could I Receive?
When claiming a loss of earnings, you may be under the impression that it is only wages that are taken into account when making the necessary calculations. However, there can be other forms of income that you may lose out on due to your injuries.
For example, pension contributions could factor in as part of your loss of income. Additionally, your place of employment may have a bonus scheme. You could lose out on bonuses due to being unable to work as a result of the injury or injuries you have sustained.
It may be possible your injuries are so severe that you are not ever able to return to work. For example, you may be an athlete who has become paralysed due to the negligence of a third party.
In these instances, your future loss could be calculated and awarded to you. This means that the money you are projected to have earned over your career could be awarded to you in instalments. If your claim is successful, your solicitor cannot deduct their success fee from this element of your compensation.
If you wish to make a loss of earnings claim as part of your claim for compensation, get in touch with our advisors today.
How To Prove Future Loss Of Earnings
Future loss of earnings claims are sometimes required when someone’s injury is so severe that it’s uncertain when they can return to work. If your injury is this debilitating, you may be able to make a personal injury claim for future loss of earnings.
Additionally, if you originally returned to work but had to take more time off again as your injuries worsened, you may still be able to make a personal injury claim if you are capable of proving future loss of earnings.
Moreover, if you can evidence that your injury has left you with limited career progression prospects in the future, you may also be able to claim for future loss of earnings. This is because your injury may have prevented you from progressing in work and therefore stopped you from earning the money you could have.
Please note that you cannot receive compensation for loss of earnings if you chose to take the time off work. You must prove that your injury prevented you from going back to work in order to be reimbursed for your loss of earnings.
Proving Lost Overtime, Sick Pay And Other Benefits
What evidence is needed for a personal injury claim? In terms of extra hours, if you were regularly working overtime before you suffered your accident, you may be able to claim for this if you can provide proof of loss of earnings. You will be required to show that overtime would have been possible for you if you hadn’t had to take time off work due to your injury.
Furthermore, you may want to recover loss of earnings if you had to take unpaid sick or holiday days whilst off work for your injury. Holiday days are owed to workers to repay them for their hard work throughout the year, so they shouldn’t be taken away from you because you suffered an injury that wasn’t your fault. You could claim compensation for the value of every unpaid sick day and holiday day you were made to take whilst off work for your injury.
Moreover, many companies reward employees with performance-based benefits, such as paid rewards or bonuses for attendance. If you can prove that you would have received an attendance bonus had you not been injured, you may be able to recover the loss. You should provide evidence that you were progressing towards this goal and would have reached it if your injury didn’t require you to take time off work.
How Do I Prove Lost Pension Contributions?
Missing pension payments due to taking time off work for an injury can add to your future loss of earnings. The pension payments process means that even a slight difference in the amount you pay towards it can have a significant financial impact in the future.
If you’ve missed pension payments due to your injury, you may be able to recover them in your potential compensation for future loss of earnings. You must provide evidence to support your claim that you usually made regular pension payments and only stopped due to your injury.
If you’d like more guidance regarding lost pension contributions, our team of advisers would be happy to help. You can contact them today for 24/7 free legal advice regarding your claim.
If you wish to proceed with your personal injury claim, they can connect you with our expert panel of personal injury solicitors who can discuss No Win No Fee agreements with you.
How To Make a Loss of Earning Claim When Self-Employed
A self-employed worker can also make a claim for a loss of earnings in a personal injury claim. To successfully do so, you would need to present evidence of both your injury and proof of your expected income.
This can come in the form of:
- Medical Records: A medical report containing records of your injury and an estimated recovery period as set out by a medical professional can help prove the severity of your injury and the period in which you will be unable to work. This can help in assessing the correct amount of income to request as part of compensation for your future loss of earnings.
- Bank Account Statements/Payslips: Evidence of your past income in the form of payslips or bank account statements can help prove your expected income and any bonuses or pension contributions. This can account for both the losses you have suffered because of your injury, and for future earnings you might wish to claim.
- Contracts: Contracts or similar documents, such as emails, or proposals you had received for work, can act as proof of a loss of future earnings in your loss of earning claim.
If you are looking for more information regarding claiming for loss of earnings as a self-employed worker, please speak to one of our advisors.
Evidence That Could Help You Prove Loss Of Earnings
If you’re wondering how to prove your loss of earnings, there are multiple ways you can do this. The first thing you should do is keep records and payslips whilst you’re off work. You should also keep records of what you were earning before you took time off work, as you can compare them to the records of pay when you were off work.
Furthermore, you should keep a diary of what happened whilst you were off work and seek medical advice. This can help prove that your symptoms persisted and you couldn’t return to work any earlier than you did.
You should also record effects on your career whilst you’re off work; for example, lack of attendance bonus due to absence. This can help when proving future loss of earnings as your injury made you lose out on a bonus.
Finally, you should keep a record of what happened when you went back to work. Had your pension decreased? Did you get reimbursed for any of your financial losses from being off work? This could be important in your personal injury claim when you have to prove loss of earnings.
Personal Injury Claim Time Limits
The personal injury claims time limit is generally three years. That’s three years from the date you suffered your accident or three years from when you gained knowledge that the injury was due to someone else’s negligence.
If you’re under 18, the three-year time limit begins on your 18th birthday. Otherwise, a relative can act as a litigation friend to pursue the claim on your behalf before you turn 18. Similarly, if you lack the mental capacity to make a claim yourself, the three-year time limit begins when you commence recovery. On the other hand, someone you trust can become a litigation friend to pursue the personal injury claim for you.
The clock is ticking, so why wait? You can contact our team of advisers for 24/7 legal advice regarding your personal injury claim. Once you’ve had a chat with one of our advisers, you’re under no obligation to continue with our services. However, if you’d like, an adviser can connect you with our panel of personal injury solicitors who can explore No Win No Fee agreements with you.
Do You Handle Loss Of Earnings Claims On A No Win No Fee Basis?
Our panel of personal injury lawyers would be happy to discuss No Win No Fee agreements with you. Also known as Conditional Fee Agreements, they are popular as you don’t have to pay any of your solicitor’s fees unless your case succeeds.
If your case fails, you don’t have to pay the fees your lawyer has worked for. On the other hand, if your case succeeds, your lawyer will take a legally capped percentage of your compensation. This percentage will be discussed with you beforehand and is to pay your lawyer for their hard work.
Why hesitate? We recommend you contact our team of advisers by:
- Calling them on 020 3870 4868. Our advisers are available 24/7 to offer free legal advice.
- Starting your claim online. An adviser will respond at whatever time best suits you.
- Chatting with an adviser through our live chat pop-up box for an instant response.
Other Information
How do you Claim if Injured at Work in the UK?: If you’ve suffered a workplace injury in the UK, our guide explores how you can make a personal injury claim.
A Guide To Self-Employed Accident At Work Claims – Am I Eligible To Claim? – How To Claim?: Have you suffered a work-related injury whilst self-employed? Our article discusses how you can make a personal injury claim to compensate for your injuries.
Can you Sue your Employer While Still Working for them?: Our guide explores your legal rights when making a personal injury claim against an employer you still work for.
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974: This legislation states the duty of care employers have for their employees and the repercussions of breaching this duty of care.
Broken leg: If you suspect you may have a broken leg injury, this NHS article explores the symptoms, treatment, and recovery process of a leg fracture.
How do I know If I’ve broken a bone?: Do you suspect you may have a broken bone injury? This NHS guide discusses the symptoms and treatment for a bone fracture.
An Employer’s Responsibility Following an Accident at Work: This guide explains what an employer’s responsibility is following an accident at work.
FAQs About Loss Of Earnings Claims
What should I do after my accident?
The first thing you should do after suffering an accident is to seek medical attention for your injuries. This is important to ensure you receive the right treatment and have the best chance at a smooth recovery.
Furthermore, you can use medical records to prove you suffered the injury due to the accident that wasn’t your fault. You should also retain proof that the injury has financially impacted your life. For example, bus tickets prove you travelled to and from medical appointments.
Finally, you can contact a specialist solicitor who can begin your personal injury claim. Our panel of personal injury lawyers would be happy to discuss No Win No Fee agreements with you and calculate how much compensation you could receive for your injuries.
What evidence do you need for a personal injury claim?
The initial evidence you need for a personal injury claim is medical evidence and evidence to prove that the accident wasn’t your fault. This could be photographs of your injury, CCTV footage, and witness statements (for example).
Loss of earnings calculator
You do not necessarily need a loss of earnings calculator to calculate loss of earnings. This may not be able to take into account all aspects of your claim, such as missed bonuses, pension contributions and loss of future earnings. For a more accurate estimation of what you could claim, get in touch with us at any time.
Thank you for reading our guide on how to prove loss of earnings for an injury claim.
Writer HL
Checked by HT
