Proving Loss Of Self-Employment Income After An Accident

Posted on: 4 February 2021

After an accident that results in injuries, it is common for the victim to miss time from work. With a traditional salary or hourly wage worker, they can generally submit paystubs or other payment records as part of their claim submission to be reimbursed from their time off. However, when the victim is self-employed, the process is not as straight forward. 

History of Earnings

One of the first hurdles you need to overcome with self-employment income is that you need a history of earnings. With a traditional wage earner, they can generally present a few pay stubs that show their average earnings, and their claim award is then based on this figure. 

With self-employed income, you will likely need to show a lengthier history of earnings, such as a tax statement from a previous year, or a profit and loss form. Without this documentation, there is a chance that the amount of your average income could be undervalued.  

Contract Documents

If you do not have tax records on hand or you are a relatively new business owner, you can also use contract documents to help verify your income loss. For example, consider a landscaper who just went under contract for a job slated to last 3 months.

If the victim's injuries would extend throughout the duration of this period, they could present this document as proof of self-income loss. The main thing is that you have to be able to provide some clear indication of how much money you are going to miss out on due to your injury treatment and recovery.

Medical Justification

Another complexity that self-employed injury victims face is the demand for medical justification when it comes to time off. The issue that sometimes arises is that insurance companies sometimes argue that as a self-employed person, you can modify your workload, so there is a possibility you can still work.

To combat this problem, it is especially important that you have documentation from a medical provider that notates your inability to not work. Without this documentation, the insurance company can argue that you are able to work and ultimately, deny your claim. Your attorney can help you collect this documentation. 

If you are the victim of injuries sustained in a vehicle accident and you are self-employed — you can recoup your lost wages. However, the assistance of an attorney with this matter is going to be very important.

For more information, contact a car accident attorney.

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