After a car accident, what happens if I lose my job?
If you lose your job due to a car accident, you can seek disability benefits through your no-fault insurance provider. Depending on the circumstances of your crash, you may also be able to pursue your lost wages from your employer or the negligent driver who caused the collision. A car accident lawyer with our firm can help you secure a full and fair settlement.
Types of Damages for a Lost Job
When people think of filing a lawsuit after a car accident, they may assume that their potential compensation will be limited to vehicle damage and coverage for medical care. However, many other types of damages could be available in your case. These damages are broken down into two main categories: financial damages and non-financial damages.
Financial Damages
Your financial losses—also called special damages—can include any costs that resulted from the accident. Here, you can include a claim for a lost job. Other examples of financial damages are:
- Loss of employment: If you can no longer perform your usual work duties because of your injuries and you had to quit your job, you can seek compensation for the loss of your regular income and employment benefits.
- Lost wages: In some cases, accident victims will miss short periods of work. In these cases, you can seek compensation for your total missed paychecks.
- Reduced earning capacity: Your injuries could prevent you from working at your former capacity over the long term. If you expect that you will never be able to return to your former career, this too could be compensable.
- Missed tips, bonuses, or opportunities for promotion: Your career losses may include other costs. If you cannot earn your normal tips, expected bonuses, or missed out on a promotion because of your injuries, this could be recoverable.
- Medical expenses: Some injuries require extensive medical care, and you may need to pay for treatment well into the future. A lawsuit can seek compensation for your past, present, and anticipated expenses, such as emergency care, ambulance services, medications, physical therapy, surgeries, hospitalizations, and more.
- Other out-of-pocket costs: Your settlement or award could also reflect other out-of-pocket costs, such as medical equipment or transportation expenses.
Non-Financial Damages
Some recoverable damages do not have a clear dollar value attached to them. Still, these losses—also called general damages—can seriously affect your life. Damages like these include:
- Pain and Suffering: Your pain and suffering damages reflect the seriousness of your physical pain and other emotional hardships.
- Reduced enjoyment of life: When your injuries substantially affect your normal routines, hobbies, and ability to enjoy life, you can seek compensation.
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Some accidents leave victims with long-lasting trauma, including flashbacks and challenges with returning to the driver’s seat. If you sought treatment for PTSD, this could be compensable.
- Scarring and Disfigurement: If you have permanent scars or a lasting change in your appearance, you can seek compensation.
Other types of damages may be available beyond those listed here.
Steps to Building a Successful Personal Injury Case
If you lost a job due to a car accident, you could recover your damages through a personal injury case—but there are several important steps you should be aware of.
Here are some of the steps involved in bringing a successful case for compensation:
- Gather evidence to prove liability and your Losses: You must gather a range of evidence that shows the other party caused the crash and is responsible for your losses. This evidence may include police reports, eyewitness statements, surveillance camera footage, medical records, employer statements, past paychecks, and other information.
- Follow through on necessary Medical Treatments: If your job is at stake because of your injuries, it is crucial that you seek all medical care recommended by your doctor. The liable party’s insurance company will often scrutinize a victim’s health history to challenge the case. If you have a clear record of treatment and can show that you took steps to mitigate your damages, you have more evidence in your favor.
- Consider a lawyer’s help: A Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer can tell you how much your case might be worth and prepare the strongest possible evidence for compensation. If you lost a job because of an injury, a great deal of money could be on the table—and an injury lawyer should have experience negotiating high-dollar settlements.
Your Personal Injury Case Could Be Resolved Out of Court
Keep in mind that you may not need to file a lawsuit or go to court if you bring a personal injury case against a liable driver. In many situations, a lawyer can help you seek an out-of-court settlement without having to go to trial—making the legal process more efficient for all parties involved. A personal injury attorney in Fort Lauderdale can advise you on the best possible route to take for your case.
Options for Recovering Lost Wages and Car Accident Job Loss Compensation
The employment consequences of a car accident can significantly impact your financial stability and economic future. Fortunately, you have legal rights and options for recovering your lost wages and lost earning capacity if you lose your job because of a car crash injury.
Florida is a no-fault insurance state, which means drivers must carry personal injury protection (PIP) insurance. PIP pays medical, disability, and death benefits after an auto accident, regardless of fault. According to Florida Statutes § 627.736, disability benefits provide 60 percent of your income and lost earning capacity, up to your policy limit, if you cannot work or lose your job due to a car accident injury.
If you have a severe injury and exhaust your PIP coverage, you can seek compensation from the driver who caused your crash with a liability claim or lawsuit. A personal injury attorney with our firm can pursue your lost wages, employment benefits, and additional earnings, such as bonuses and tips. We can also seek awards for your lost future earnings and lost earning capacity if you lose your job or must permanently reduce your hours.
You Can Seek Medical Expenses and Other Losses
If you have injuries severe enough to prevent you from working, you likely have other car accident damages. In addition to your lost income, we can identify and seek fair compensation for the following:
- Current and future medical expenses
- Vehicle repair or replacement costs
- Household services
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Mental anguish
- Diminished quality of life
- Wrongful death of a loved one
What If Your Car Accident Happened at Work?
If your collision happened at work, you may be able to recover your lost income with a workers’ compensation car accident claim. As with PIP, workers’ comp only covers a portion of your lost wages, not your full salary.
Your employer cannot fire you if you suffer an on-the-job car accident injury and cannot work. They also cannot retaliate against you for filing a workers’ compensation claim. However, your employer is not legally obligated to hold your job open for you until you are medically able to return.
If you have a permanent or disabling injury and must find another line of work, worker’s compensation will provide reemployment services to help you learn new job skills and find new employment. A fort lauderdale car accident lawyer can review your legal rights after a job loss from a car accident.
Proving Your Car Accident Injuries Caused Your Job Loss
Losing a job after a car crash can leave you facing a tough time. To secure job loss damages, you must prove that you sustained an injury severe enough to prevent you from working. We can help you do this using medical records and testimony from medical professionals and other case experts, including crash reconstruction specialists.
We can also help you prove the value of your claim using pay stubs, tax records, tip averages, and other documentation of your lost earnings. In addition, we can help you determine a fair sum to compensate for your future lost income.
Proving Liability for Your Personal Injury Damages
You do not need to prove negligence to secure compensation through your PIP insurance or workers’ comp. You will need to prove another party’s careless or wrongful actions caused your crash when seeking awards with a liability insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit.
We can build your case by collecting evidence, including police reports, eyewitness accounts, and surveillance or dashcam video. We will draft and file your claims or lawsuit, manage case-related communications and details, and aggressively negotiate on your behalf. Our goal is to get the maximum compensation possible while relieving your legal burden.
How Long Do You Have to Claim Your Losses If You Lose Your Job After a Car Crash?
According to Florida Statutes § 95.11, you have two years from your accident to file a Fort Lauderdale personal injury law firm or wrongful death lawsuit. You may be able to resolve your case outside of court, but you should file your insurance claims immediately so you do not run up against this deadline.
If the statute of limitations expires, you will no longer have the option to sue, which removes your leverage over the insurance company. You could end up with a denied or underpaid settlement and no more options for seeking financial damages.
Call the Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato About Your Car Accident Case
You have legal rights after a job loss due to a car accident. A Florida car accident lawyer with the Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato can help you explore every option available for recovering your lost wages and additional personal injury damages. Contact us today at (954) 633-8270 for a free consultation and learn more about how we can represent you for nothing upfront or out of pocket.
