How Much Can I Claim For Loss Of Earnings After An Acccident Or Injury?

This guide will look at who is eligible to make a claim for loss of earnings after a personal injury. The sections below will lay out all the important information to help you understand the personal injury compensation process for a lost earnings claim.

Key Points For Lost Earnings Claims

  • All UK employers owe their staff a duty of care to reasonably protect them from harm.
  • A breach of this duty that causes an injury can make the employer liable to pay compensation.
  • Loss of earnings can be included in a compensation claim.
  • Projected future earnings can also be claimed.
  • Those who are self-employed can claim for loss of earnings.
  • A personal injury solicitor from our panel could help you launch a successful claim today on a No Win No Fee basis

Simply continue reading to learn more about submitting a compensation claim, including loss of earnings. Or, if you would like to discuss the merits of your case with our expert advisors right now, you can:

  • Call us on 020 3870 4868.
  • Submit a claim online.
  • Ask the live discussion forum a question about anything raised in this guide.

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Browse Our Guide

  1. What Is A Loss Of Earnings Claim?
  2. What Are Special Damages?
  3. Is There A Difference Between Loss Of Earnings And Future Losses?
  4. How Are Future Lost Earnings Calculated?
  5. Can You Claim For Loss Of Earnings If You Are Self-Employed?
  6. How Long Do You Have To Claim For Loss Of Earnings?
  7. Can A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help Me Claim For Lost Wages?
  8. More Information On Compensation Claims

What Is A Loss Of Earnings Claim?

A loss of earnings claim is part of a legal action to seek compensation from a third party who injured you. In order to claim financial harm after an accident that was not your fault, you must be successfully awarded compensation for physical and/or psychological injury.

All employers owe their staff a duty of care as laid out in the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HASAWA). This legislation requires them to take reasonable and practicable steps to prevent workers from experiencing harm on the job. To get started with a personal injury claim, you need to meet three criteria to prove your employer was responsible:

  • A duty of care was owed to you.
  • The employer breached it.
  • You suffered an injury (or multiple injuries).

With all three points in place, you could have grounds to seek both general damages for your physical and psychological injuries, as well as special damages for the financial loss. We explore this in more detail below, but please call if you have any questions so far.

Can I Claim For Lost Earnings If I Wasn’t Injured?

A personal injury claim needs to involve actual physical or psychiatric injury. Therefore, any claim for lost earnings, medical bills or care costs must be related to an actual injury.

There may be certain employment law claims, such as unfair or constructive dismissal, that could include a claim for loss of earnings, but those are beyond the scope of this guide.

SOLICITOR HELPING A CLIENT CLAIM LOSS OF EARNINGS

What Are Special Damages?

Special damages are the head of loss compensating the claimant for their monetary harm. To claim special damages, you will need to provide documented evidence that proves these losses. This can include the following:

  • Payslips that show a drop or loss in earnings because of the injuries or that your earning capacity was reduced.
  • Any proof that you missed future employment opportunities because of the injuries.
  • Documented evidence of damage to your pension contributions or staff attendance bonus.
  • Proof of medical expenses for treatments you could not access freely. As well as medical reports indicating future treatments.
  • A copy of the workplace accident book entry.
  • Tickets and receipts that prove travel expenses to essential appointments.

Call our team if you lost wages or suffered a negative impact on your job prospects because of injuries caused by others. They can answer questions about how to claim for loss of earnings.

Is There A Difference Between Loss Of Earnings And Future Losses?

Lost earnings reflect past losses and require documented proof that shows how your salary was impacted by the injuries. Future losses refer to financial harm that is confidently predicted to happen as time progresses. So, you may not have actual documented evidence of this yet.

Ongoing and prospective losses can be more than just income from your employer. It may also include the costs of medical procedures and treatments that are expected to last for some time or happen in the future. For example, after a serious broken leg, you may need to attend physiotherapy sessions for weeks or months to recover. Future losses can incorporate the financial impact of this and include it in your claim.

How Are Future Lost Earnings Calculated?

A future loss of earnings can be calculated for you by a solicitor. They consider a number of factors:

  • Net Annual Loss – This takes the person’s monthly net earnings, annual income or daily wages into account. If the amount of salary fluctuates, an average over a period of time can be taken.
  • Retirement date – The solicitor then assesses how far the person is from retirement and multiplies the annual net loss by the number of years until the claimant retires. There are then some reductions, covered in the points below.
  • Ogden Tables – This tool provides solicitors with statistics to simplify the calculation and take into account issues such as the claimant’s age, gender and life expectancy. 
  • Life Events – The figures in the Ogden tables have factored in them a reduction for the contingencies of life. This can include the risk of losing a job, the time it takes to find a new one, and whether some other life event could stop the person from working.
  • Other factors – Issues such as loss of potential promotions or bonuses that were due can be considered if the injuries prevented them.

Please reach out to our dedicated team of advisors with any questions or concerns. They’re on hand to help explain any part of the loss of earnings claim process.

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Can You Claim For Loss of Earnings If You Are Self-Employed?

You could still qualify to make a loss of earnings claim as a self-employed person. If you meet the criteria discussed at the start of the guide and have lost income, then you can claim loss of earnings.

In much the same way as an employee, you need to gather together as much documented evidence as possible that shows a third party breached their duty of care to you in a way that caused you injury and damaged your earnings. This includes:

  • Your business records, ledgers and business accounts show profits before and losses after the injury.
  • Evidence of your reduced capacity to earn now.
  • Tax returns.
  • Customer invoicing and contracts.
  • Proof of future scheduled work.
Call the team for guidance on constructing a loss of earnings claim as a self-employed person.

How Long Do You Have To Claim For Loss Of Earnings?

The Limitation Act 1980 states that there is a three-year time frame in which to begin a personal injury claim for compensation. The period begins from the date you were injured. There are certain groups for whom the time limit may alter:

  • Those under the age of 18 (minors) cannot start a personal injury claim. They must wait till their 18th birthday, and they have three years from that point.
  • A complete freeze on the time limit applies to those who lack the mental capacity to claim themselves. Should their mental capacity return, they have three years starting from the date of recovery to launch an independent personal injury claim.

In both of these instances a litigation friend can bring a claim on behalf of the injured person whilst the time limit is paused. This could be a parent, guardian or other responsible adult, and they will make decisions and handle the claim.

Call our team of advisors if you need any free information about time limits for claiming after an accident or any points raised in this guide.

Can A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help Me Claim For Lost Wages?

Anyone can start and claim for loss of earnings on their own, but it makes sense to see if a skilled professional could help. The solicitors on our panel are experts at negotiating with other parties and correctly calculating the amount of future losses you might be owed.

They will help you gather supporting evidence like witness statements and always put forward the strongest argument for damages on your behalf. In addition to this, they can deal with court correspondence, explain any complicated legal jargon, and provide expert advice

They can confidently represent you at every stage of the claims process by using a type of No Win No Fee contract. The solicitors on our panel offer a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) which means:

  • No immediate solicitors fees.
  • No solicitors fees for work as the claim moves ahead.
  • Nothing is owed to the solicitors for finished services if the claim fails.
  • If the claim wins a success fee applies. The amount taken is a percentage of the personal injury compensation and is subject to a legal restriction. This means the person claiming will receive the majority of the payout.

Contact Our Team

Interested? If so, call our advisory team for a free case assessment. If it appears eligible and you want to go ahead, the team could connect you to a solicitor from our panel to begin your lost earnings claim:

  • Call us on 020 3870 4868 to see how much compensation you could be owed.
  • Use the live chat at the bottom of your screen.
  • Begin your loss of earnings compensation claim online.

A solicitor explains how to claim for loss of earnings to a client.

More Information On Compensation Claims

The focus of this guide has been loss of earnings claim after a personal injury. These other resources from our website offer more:

Some external help:

In conclusion, thank you for reading our guide about how to claim for loss of earnings.