How Is Lost Income Calculated after a Car Accident If I’m Self-Employed?

If you were injured in a car accident caused by another driver and you cannot work due to the injuries you sustained, you deserve to recover compensation for loss of income while you cannot work. But proving the amount of income you’ve lost if you are self-employed can often be more complex than if you were paid wages or salary working for an employer. Keep reading to learn about financial recovery options for self-employed individuals.

What Counts as Lost Income?

While someone who works as a payroll employee can usually prove their lost income by referencing the wages or salary listed on their pay stubs, self-employed people may have various income streams. If injuries kept you from working after a car accident, examples of the types of lost revenue you may have if you are self-employed include:

Lost earnings from ongoing contract work
Loss of the ability to pursue new business opportunities
Loss of goodwill of current clients or customers that you could not provide services for

How to Prove Lost Income

Proving lost income when self-employed often requires more evidence than a simple W-2 that someone who works for an employer could use. Instead, you may need to rely on documents such as:

Recent invoices from your current customers or clients
Tax forms, including 1099s and 1040s
Your current contracts, if they include financial details such as your pay rates or the total amount invoiced, as well as the hours or work you were expected to perform under the contract
Statements from your clients or customers, who can provide testimony regarding future work that you missed out on while you were recovering from injuries

In addition to these documents, you may also need to rely on your medical records and testimony from your treating physicians to prove that you were physically unable to work due to injuries you suffered in the car accident.

As a self-employed individual, proving lost future income can be particularly tricky since you have no guarantee of future work from customers or clients. You may need to obtain testimony from financial or business valuation experts who can model your lost future income from missed business opportunities and loss of goodwill.

How We Can Help

Although proving your lost income from self-employment after being temporarily or permanently disabled from working due to a car accident may seem complicated, Virginia Beach, VA distinguished trial lawyer William Breit and his team can provide the legal assistance you need. Turn to Breit Law PC for assistance with the following:

Investigating the car accident to identify the party or parties who can be held responsible for your injuries and losses
Documenting the injuries you sustained in the crash and collecting medical evidence to help prove that you were disabled from working during your recovery
Gathering financial and business records that we can be used to calculate your past and ongoing lost income, as well as future loss of earnings if you have been permanently disabled from working due to your injuries
Retaining medical and financial experts to provide persuasive opinion testimony to establish the total value of your lost income
Aggressively pursuing fair and full compensation of your lost income through a negotiated settlement or by going to court and trial if necessary

If you are unable to work after a car accident and need help recovering compensation for lost self-employment income, reach out to Breit Law PC for a free, no-obligation consultation. A Virginia Beach, VA car accident attorney can go over your legal rights and could help you recover lost income from the driver or other parties at fault for the crash.