Receiving Compensation for Loss of Future Earnings
In a Colorado car accident lawsuit, you can seek compensation for loss of future earnings due to your injuries. But because such damages relate to events and lost income that may or may not go on for years or decades, proving the amount of future earnings you lost because of your injuries requires more than just paystubs and tax records.
To get the maximum amount of compensation for loss of future earnings, your car accident lawyer in Colorado Springs needs to have the skills and resources to show how long you will be out of work and how much you would have earned.
Defining Compensation For Loss of Future Earnings
In the days, weeks, or months after your auto accident, you will have a good sense of how much you have already lost. Damage to your vehicle, the cost of your medical care and treatment to date, the salary or wages you didn’t earn while you were out of work – all of these are relatively easy to quantify.
But when you file an injury lawsuit in Colorado Springs, which you must do within two years of your accident, you may not yet know the true extent of your damages. You may need years of expensive treatment and rehabilitation. You may never be able to do all of the things you used to do because of your injuries. And you may not be able to return to full employment for a long time if you can go back to your job at all.
After a serious car accident injury, many Colorado Springs employees who are able to return to some type of work at a later time, won’t be able to return to the job they had before the accident. For those who suffer catastrophic injuries like traumatic brain injuries or spinal cord injuries, they might never again be able to earn a living or support their families. Furthermore, they also won’t get the raises, promotions, commissions, bonuses, and other elements of career advancement they were on track to earn before their injuries.
All of these aspects are part of your claim for compensation for loss of future earnings. But how do you prove how much of a raise you would have received, two, five, or ten years from now? How do you show what you’ve lost when you haven’t lost it yet?
Factors Involved In Calculating Compensation for Loss of Future Earnings
There are several factors that an El Paso County or Colorado Springs judge or jury can consider when trying to put a number on the future earning capacity lost because of the plaintiff’s injuries. These factors include:
- The kind of injuries suffered and how long it will likely take to recover
- Diminished physical or mental abilities caused by the accident
- The victim’s age
- The victim’s life expectancy
- The victim’s employment and educational history
- The victim’s professional or vocational skills
- The likelihood of full or partial rehabilitation
- Performance reviews
- Review of prior job responsibilities, the ability to return to work under limited duties and the impact on wages/salary
- Likelihood of receiving promotions, raises, bonuses and other aspects of compensation
Proving How Much You Lost In Future Earnings
Once your accident injury attorney proves that the other driver was responsible for the accident and your injuries, he or she needs to provide evidence to support the amount you claim in damages because of those injuries. When it comes to the loss of future earning capacity, doing so usually requires a combination of medical, expert, and occupational testimony.
Your treating physician or other medical experts will give their opinions about the nature of your injuries and how they limit your abilities.
Vocational rehabilitation and economic experts may offer their opinions about the extent and duration of the limitations on your abilities and how they impact your earning capacity.
Your employer may discuss your job performance and the career trajectory you were on. Others can testify about the company you work for or the industry you work in. And you may give the judge or jury your own perspective about how the injuries diminished your career and hopes for the future.
Get Maximum Compensation For Loss Of Future Earnings
Whether your injuries will keep you off the job for several months or for the rest of your life, you should get every dollar that you won’t earn because of another person’s negligence. But recovering the maximum amount of damages for your losses, including compensation for loss of future earnings, is no easy task.
An experienced Colorado Springs car accident attorney will have the skills, knowledge, and team of highly credentialed experts ready to get you all that you deserve. Contact King and Beaty today!
Before You Go
What’s the Average Car Accident Settlement in Colorado?
How Long After an Accident Injury Can You Get Your Medical Bills Paid?
Injured in a Car Accident by an Uninsured Driver in Colorado? What Should You Do Now?
