Suffering serious injuries can completely transform your life, especially if they lead to long-term impairment or disability. You could find yourself unable to work like you did before, affecting your current income and your long-term career prospects. You might even be unable to work or earn a living at all. In these circumstances, you might be entitled to seek compensation from the person to blame for your injuries and the lost earning capacity you’ve suffered by filing a personal injury claim.
What Is Loss of Earning Capacity?
You go to work to earn a paycheck so you can support your family. These are your wages or your earned income. Lost income or lost wages is the money you miss out on because you are out of work recovering from injuries sustained in an accident.
Your earning capacity, on the other hand, is the amount of money you could earn in the future if you continue to work, learn new skills, and advance your career. Loss of earning capacity refers to the amount of money you could have earned had disabilities not affected your long-term career arc.
If someone else caused your injuries, you can hold them financially accountable for the loss of earning capacity you’ve experienced as a result. However, calculating loss of earning capacity can be challenging, and recovering the money you deserve might become challenging without legal intervention.
Causes Leading to Loss of Earning Capacity
Practically any serious injury can lead to long-term impairment that might affect your ability to work and earn a living. Among the most common causes of lost earning capacity include:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Dog bites/dog attacks
- Slip-and-fall accidents
- Construction accidents
If someone else’s careless, reckless, or wrongful behavior has affected your ability to work and earn a living, contact an experienced Georgia personal injury attorney immediately. They can help you pursue the money you deserve for your financial losses, lost wages, and loss of future earning capacity.
Impact of Loss of Earning Capacity on Quality of Life
Loss of long-term earning capacity can have serious consequences on your quality of life. The dreams you had for your future are suddenly at risk. The vacations you expected to take and memories you planned to make might never pass. You might no longer be able to afford your favorite hobbies, even the ones you are still physically able to indulge in. It may be hard to pay your mortgage or make ends meet. This can lead to stress, dissatisfaction, and, ultimately, diminished quality of life.
Most of us rely on our work to pay for our everyday needs and enjoy non-essentials that make life enjoyable. Without an income – and, just as importantly, the ability to improve your income over time and to plan for the future – your ability to afford the life you want will be seriously affected. As such, loss of earning capacity can hurt your ability to enjoy life to its fullest.
Difference Between Loss of Earning Capacity and Loss of Future Earnings
The terms loss of earning capacity and loss of future earnings are often used interchangeably. However, there are subtle but distinct differences between the two concepts. Loss of earning capacity refers to the projected losses a person may experience over time because of how their injuries have affected their career prospects. Loss of future earnings or future lost earnings refers to the actual money that an injured individual will lose due to the injury.
How to Calculate Loss of Earning Capacity
Calculating the loss of earning capacity in Georgia personal injury cases is not an exact science. Several factors can be considered when estimating your loss of earning capacity, including:
- Current job position
- Location
- Education
- Work history
- Job skills that can transition to other industries
- Job industry trends in your field
- Your ability to do a different job or work
With so many factors potentially impacting the value of the loss of your earning capacity, it’s essential to work with an experienced personal injury attorney who can thoroughly evaluate your situation and accurately calculate the fair value of your lost future income. An attorney can also collect and review the evidence needed to help build a compelling lost earning capacity claim, such as:
- Medical records
- W-2 and tax forms
- Paystubs
- Expert witness testimony from physicians and employment specialists
This information will help them project how the injuries have affected your long-term earning capacity and place a fair value on that loss.
How Our Georgia Injury Attorneys Can Help
At Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC, we understand the long-term impact the loss of your earning capacity can have on you and those you love. We want to help you recover the money you deserve to rebuild your life and protect you from financial uncertainty. We’ll do this by:
- Investigating the cause of your injuries to determine who is to blame
- Recovering evidence to establish the extent of your long-term impairments and working with experts to project how those impairments might affect your career prospects
- Using the information we recover to place a fair dollar value on your loss of earning capacity
- Negotiating with at-fault parties and their insurers for an out-of-court settlement that fully compensates you for your loss of earning capacity
- Going to trial and presenting your case before a court if the other side won’t make a fair offer
- Working on contingency, which means never charging you a fee unless we recover compensation for you first
- Supporting you throughout your personal injury case by answering your questions and helping you understand your options
Ready to demand justice for what’s been taken from you? Then contact Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC, today for a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer.
