Calculating Personal Injury Loss Of Earnings Settlements
By Jade Mooney. Last Updated 16th July 2024. Welcome to our guide on calculating a personal injury loss of earnings settlement. Many things can change suddenly after an accident caused by a breach of duty of care. As the shock of a physical injury subsides, and you begin to receive the treatment you need, other problems may start to emerge.
One of these repercussions from an accident could be a loss of earnings. The drop in income can create many unwanted issues. In this article, we look at what practical steps you can take to get this lost money back.
Get in touch with our team if you were injured because someone who had a duty of care towards you breached this duty, and you were injured as a result. You can get in touch with our team by:
- Calling our team for instant guidance and advice on 020 3870 4868
- Filling out our contact form
- Use the ‘live support’ option for help right now
Alternatively, you can read on for more information on claiming loss of earnings.
Services And Information
- How To Calculate Loss Of Earnings Compensation
- What Else Can I Claim For?
- Who Could Claim Loss Of Earnings In A Personal Injury Claim?
- What Proof Of Lost Income And Benefits Do I Need?
- Claim For A Personal Injury And Loss Of Earnings On A No Win No Fee Basis
- Related Compensation Calculators
How To Calculate Loss Of Earnings Compensation
If your loss of earnings claim is successful, your settlement might be divided into two heads of loss. These heads of loss are called special damages and general damages. General damages are always awarded in successful personal injury claims, whereas special damages are only sometimes awarded.
Special damages compensate you for any type of financial harm or loss you have incurred as a result of your injuries. When you claim compensation for loss of earnings, it would fall under this head of compensation.
As well as straightforward loss of earnings, there are some other work-related financial losses that you could experience as a result of being injured. For example:
- Pension contributions. If you’re off work for a long enough time, then this impact on your earnings could have an effect on your pension contributions.
- Sick days used. You may have taken some time off work to recover and used sick days to do so. If this is the case, you could claim back these days as part of your compensation. You will be compensated a day’s salary for every sick day you have taken.
- Perks and benefits not accrued. Some workplaces offer performance-related bonuses or may offer a monetary incentive for not taking any time off work. If you were unable to work towards this because you were injured, then you could claim this back.
- Not being promoted. If you can demonstrate that you could have been promoted if you had not taken time off work, then this could be used to justify seeking a higher compensation award.
You’ll need evidence when proving a loss of earnings claim. This could include documents like wage slips and bank statements. Continue reading, as we discuss examples of evidence you can gather.
Alternatively, you may have experienced a financial loss that does not relate to loss of earnings, such as travel expenses and medical bills. If so, don’t worry; just give our team a call today and provide us with the details of your claim. One of our advisors can help you.
What Else Can I Claim For?
General damages are designed to compensate you for the physical and psychological impacts of your accident and subsequent injuries. This can include:
- Loss of amenity, where you may have lost enjoyment, productivity, or purpose from not being able to work due to your injuries.
- How severe your injuries are, which can affect how much time you need off work.
- Your prognosis and estimated recovery time, which can also affect how much time you need off work.
When general damages are valued, the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) may be referred to. The JCG is a publication that suggests guideline compensation brackets for different physical and psychological injuries.
Injuries Table
Apart from the first entry, we have taken some guideline figures from the JCG for different injuries that could be suffered after an accident and, accordingly, could cause you to also suffer loss of earnings.
However, you should only use this table as a guide. This is because compensation is awarded on a case-by-case basis, and the specific factors of your claim could impact how much compensation you are awarded.
| Type of injury | Severity | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Serious Injuries Plus Special Damages | Serious | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Brain damage | Very severe (a) | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Less severe (d) | £18,700 to £52,550 | |
| Back Injury | Severe (a) (i) | £111,150 to £196,450 |
| Neck | Severe (a) (i) | In the region of £181,020 |
| Leg | Amputations (a) (iii) | £127,930 to £167,760 |
| Arm | Severe (a) | £117,360 to £159,770 |
| Elbow | Severely disabling (a) | £47,810 to £66,920 |
| Chest | Chest and lung damage causing some continuing disabilities (c) | £38,210 to £66,920 |
To learn more about how to calculate loss of earnings compensation, please get in touch.
Who Could Claim Loss Of Earnings In A Personal Injury Claim?
Now that we have discussed how compensation for loss of earnings is calculated, we must discuss who might be eligible for this.
Loss of earnings is the money you have lost from needing time off work to recover from any injuries you have suffered due to a breached duty of care.
Depending on where you are, there are different responsible third parties who owe you a duty of care. While we discuss this in more detail below, here is the eligibility criteria that need to be met in order to make a personal injury claim for loss of earnings:
- You were owed a duty of care.
- This duty of care was breached.
- You were injured because this duty of care was breached.
If you can prove that the above criteria apply to you, then you may be able to claim loss of earnings as part of your claim.
Now, we discuss who owes you a duty of care in different places.
At Work
While at work, your employer owes you a duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. This means that your employer must take reasonable steps in order to ensure your safety at work and to remove the risk of you becoming injured.
Some of these reasonable steps include:
- To regularly check the maintenance of facilities and equipment. For example, checking whether any machinery is broken in a warehouse.
- To give employees necessary Personal Protective Equipment, such as hard hats and steel toe boots when on a construction site.
- To give employees necessary training, such as manual handling training.
In Public
While in public, the occupier of that space (whoever has control) owes you a duty of care under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. This means that the occupier of whatever public space you are in must take steps in order to ensure your reasonable safety and to remove the risk of you becoming injured.
Some of these steps include:
- Responding to any reports of hazards, such as a wet floor or broken glass on the floor, as promptly as possible.
- To put out warning signs where necessary, such as ‘no diving’ signs in shallow areas of a public swimming pool.
- To regularly check the maintenance of facilities and equipment. For example, checking whether any apparatus is broken in a public park.
On The Road
While on the road, all road users owe one another a duty of care. This means that all road users must comply with the rules in the Road Traffic Act 1988 and The Highway Code in order to ensure that no road user is at risk of becoming injured.
Some of these rules include:
- Not exceeding speed limits.
- Stopping at all red lights.
- Not being under the influence of alcohol or drugs whilst driving.
So, if you have had an accident at work, an accident in public, or a road traffic accident, and it was because a duty of care was breached, contact us today. We can tell you whether you are eligible to claim compensation for missing work due to your injuries.
What Proof Of Lost Income And Benefits Do I Need?
It’s important to retain paper evidence of anything that can substantiate your claim for special damages. This includes a loss of earnings. For example, you could provide payslips that show your earnings were reduced. You may also present doctors notes to show that you had to take time off work.
As well as loss of earnings, you can also claim other things as part of special damages. This can include things like care costs, the cost of home or vehicle adaptations and travel costs to and from medical appointments. You will need to provide evidence of these, too. This might include things like bills and receipts to show what you have paid.
Speak with our advisors now. See how legal help could benefit your personal injury loss of earnings claim.
Claim For A Personal Injury And Loss Of Earnings On A No Win No Fee Basis
If you have valid grounds to claim for a personal injury and any loss of earnings related to your injury, then you could seek support from one of the experienced No Win No Fee solicitors on our panel. Our advisors could review your claim, and if they determine you have a strong case, they could then arrange for a solicitor from our panel to represent you under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is a type of No Win No Fee agreement that brings several benefits.
One of these is that you won’t need to pay your solicitor for their services at the start of your claim or while it is being processed. Also, you don’t need to pay your solicitor for their services if your claim is unsuccessful.
If your claim is successful, then your solicitor will take what’s called a success fee. This is typically a small, legally capped percentage of your compensation. The legal cap helps to ensure that you keep the majority of what you receive.
To get more advice and support with claiming for a personal injury and related loss of earnings, contact our advisors for free today. To speak to our team, you can:
- Call our team on 020 3870 4868
- Write to us using our contact form.
- Or use our 24/7 live chat option.
Related Compensation Calculators
Below, we have included some additional guides that you may find useful:
