There are 6 million car accidents in the U.S. every year; 27% of these result in non-fatality injuries.
Even in low impact crashes, it is easy for people to find themselves injured enough to take time off of work. Unfortunately, this can leave them in a no-win situation depending on their job.
Many people return to work too early for many reasons. This could be medical bills quickly adding up, general financial responsibilities, or because they’re afraid to lose their job from not being there. The unfortunate reality is that some people simply aren’t able to return to work because of the injuries and they are let go.
How Receiving Unemployment Benefits May Affect a Car Accident Claim
In personal injury and car accident cases where there are serious injuries, wage loss may make up a large portion of the damages if the person’s ability to work is limited. This includes past wages and potential future earning capacity.
If you’re receiving unemployment benefits at the time of the accident, the value of your case may be reduced. This is because if you weren’t working at the time of the crash, you won’t be able to argue that the injury caused immediate wage loss.
Now, if your injuries affected your future earning capacity, this will be taken into consideration when a settlement is being negotiated.
Examples of car accident injuries that would affect your ability to find future employment would be:
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Spinal cord injury
• Back injury
• Disc injury
• Neck injury
• Loss of sight or visual impairment
• Hearing loss
• Organ damage
Your occupation and ability to continue in that field of work would also be taken into consideration with the type of injury sustained.
In a situation where you were actively seeking employment, but not employed at the time of the accident, you’ll need to show you the injuries limited your ability to find work. The top car accident attorneys will hire expert witnesses such as doctors and economists to support this argument.
They will testify about your injuries, how they’ve affected you physically and mentally, along with your work history, experience, education, and the current labor market.
Another important factor in unemployment cases will be the length of time you’ve been out of work. If you’ve only been out of work for a short time and it wasn’t of your choosing, then it will be easier to connect the injury and loss of job prospects. However, if it’s been longer than six months, the defense attorney will try to argue that there are other more important factors than the injury keeping you unemployed.
Those Who Are Not in the Labor Force
If you’re neither receiving unemployment benefits nor actively looking for work, you’ll be considered “not in the labor force.” This means that you’re not entitled to any damages for lost work or prospective work. Your damages will be limited to medical bills, pain and suffering, and possibly other damages.
Loss of Household Damages for Stay at Home Parents and Caregivers
If injured, stay at home parents can receive damages for lost wages. This is based on the economic value of whatever household services they provide. This would include things like:
• Care for young children
• Cooking
• Grocery shopping
• Transportation for the children
• Cleaning
• General household duties
• Paying bills
• Managing family finances
• Having to hire a housekeeper
Additionally, if your spouse has to cut back on hours to help with these duties, this would be taken into consideration too.
If you’re a full-time caretaker for an elderly or disabled family member or spouse, similar considerations would apply.
Self-Employed Individual Concerns
If you’re self-employed, things can be a little tricky. Usually, your lost wages will be based on your previous earnings. But if you’ve just started something new, you’ll need to provide evidence to show lost earnings or how your future earnings have been affected. This could be through invoices, contracts, bank statements, or even correspondence with third parties. Expert witnesses may be able to help in these situations as well.
Sacramento Car Accident Attorney
My name is Dan Hanecak and I am a Sacramento personal injury lawyer. We understand that car crashes can have a serious financial burden on you and your family. When another person’s negligence causes injuries, don’t be afraid to seek justice.
Insurance companies are happy to see people try to tough it out and pay them less. It’s not your burden to bear. We always say to take care of your health and your family first. There is nothing wrong with that.
When you call my firm, you’ll speak directly with me on the phone right away. We’re not the typical personal injury law office. Call me today for free and friendly advice at (916) 619-5452 and we can start planning your free strategy. Or if you’d like, we have a form online and I can call you back personally at a time more convenient for you.
