Given the state of healthcare costs in the U.S., suffering any type of injury can be a financial disaster. Medical bills can quickly jump to five figures in days. Unfortunately, that is just the start of any financial problem. When you are seriously hurt, you are likely in no condition to continue working. If your injuries were caused by another party, you should be able to recover that lost income from their insurance company. However, getting compensation for lost income requires you to document lost wages. Injury claims require this information and more. An experienced personal injury attorney at Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law can help.
Why Documenting Lost Income Is Important in a Lost Wages Claim in Houston
Imagine that you earn $2,000 a week at your job. If you are seriously injured and miss four weeks of work, you are out $8,000. This is the amount of money you would request an insurance company to compensate you for during a claim. However, the insurance company won’t just pay you because you asked it to—it requires proof that you lost $8,000. The insurance company knows nothing about your job, how much money you make, or when you receive income. Without documentation, it will refuse your request.
The insurance company won’t automatically believe you when you say that you experienced lost wages. You will need to prove that your losses are legitimate.
How to Document Lost Wages During an Injury Claim in Houston
Preserving documentation is a more difficult skill than most people realize. Consider how often you go shopping and get offered a receipt for what you purchased. If you are like many shoppers, you either leave the receipt at the store, throw it away, or stuff it in a pocket or bag and never think about it again. If that was a cash purchase, you have lost any documentation that you made the purchase.
You can’t afford to do that when you are in the middle of an injury claim. You need to preserve every piece of documentation possible. That is hard enough when you are healthy. When you are recovering from a serious injury, you may not have the mental focus to preserve important documents as they are created. An experienced attorney at Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law can help you improve your preservation skills and can preserve documents for you when you are unable to.
The following types of documents are the most important to preserve during a personal injury claim.
Work Records
The first thing you will need to prove in a lost wages claim is that you were working regularly before your injury. This means you will need to show wage statements from previous weeks or months. You should also produce a work contract that indicates how much you are paid and what hours you are guaranteed.
Additionally, you need records that identify how much work you missed. If you work hourly and your hours differ every week, you need your employer to produce records of the hours they would have assigned you on the weeks you missed.
Typically, you can use past work records to show the average number of hours you are assigned each week. If those records go back at least a few months, they create a pattern that counts as evidence.
Have you suffered a serious injury in Houston that makes it impossible for you to work? The better you are at documenting your lost wages, the more likely you are to get fair compensation for your losses. Call Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law now at (713) 973-8888 or toll-free 1 (800) 444-5000 for a free and confidential consultation.
Medical Records
Proving that you missed work is only half of the equation. You also need to prove that you missed work due to the injuries you suffered. Just as the insurance company doesn’t know how much money you make or how much time you usually spend at work, it also doesn’t know why you missed work. As far as the insurance company is aware, you missed work on the days you are claiming because you weren’t in the mood to go to work. You need to produce medical evidence that your injuries made it impossible for you to work.
This means you need extensive medical records detailing the seriousness of your injuries. Typically, you will also need the medical opinion of your doctor that you are incapable of performing specific duties that are required as part of your profession.
For example, suppose that your work requires you to walk throughout the day. If you have a spinal cord injury, your doctor might document that you shouldn’t walk for at least three weeks while your injury heals. That would be the evidence that you need to prove the legitimacy of missing three weeks of work.
Evidence That the Other Party Caused Your Injury
Helping to establish liability is important in cases where you are partially at fault for the injuries you suffered. Under Texas law, you can still recover compensation when you are partially at fault, but only if you are less than 51% responsible. Additionally, any compensation you receive will be prorated based on the percentage that the other party is at fault.
This prorated compensation would also apply to lost wages from an injury claim. If there is any dispute about relative fault, you should collect as much evidence as possible that shows that the other party is responsible. This will lessen the impact of these comparative negligence regulations and result in you getting as much money as possible.
The Importance of Preserving Documentation Immediately
Timely preservation matters a lot during a lost wages claim. Insurance companies usually implement strict deadlines during the insurance process. If you fail to preserve necessary documents today, it could take weeks or more to get access to them another way. At best, this will slow down the insurance claim process, and, at worst, it could get portions of your claim denied.
This can also affect your ability to file a lawsuit. If the insurance company refuses to pay you the compensation that you are legally eligible to receive, you have a limited amount of time to act. Once the statute of limitations runs out, you will no longer be able to file a lawsuit. (*Always speak directly to an attorney for the exact deadlines that apply to your potential claims.) Generally, you want to have all of your documents in order long before you start a lawsuit. If our personal injury lawyers need to spend significant time gathering those documents, that deadline could become problematic.
Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer in Texas Today
If you have experienced lost wages due to a serious injury caused by another party, you should be eligible to get compensation for those losses. An experienced personal injury lawyer can help you get fair compensation by documenting your claims.
Learn more about how Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law can help you. Call our law firm now at (713) 973-8888 or toll-free 1 (800) 444-5000 for a free and confidential consultation.
Attorney Terry Bryant
Terry Bryant is Board Certified in personal injury trial law, which means his extensive knowledge of the law has been recognized by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, setting him apart from many other injury attorneys. The 22 years he spent as a Municipal Judge, Spring Valley Village, TX also provides him keen insight into the Texas court system. That experience also helps shape his perspective on personal injury cases and how they might resolve. This unique insight benefits his clients. [ Attorney Bio ]
