Home
» Claims FAQ
» Claiming for lost earnings

Claiming for Loss of Earnings if an Injury Leaves You Unable to Work

By Ian Morris | Updated July 31st, 2024

96 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Quick Answer: Yes, you can claim for lost wages as part of your personal injury compensation settlement if you’re off work due to an injury caused by someone else’s negligence. This includes potential loss of future earnings and even missed opportunities for career advancement.

Accidents can turn your life upside-down. Whether you work full-time, part-time or on a self-employed basis, the professional impact can be huge. Being forced to take time off work with an injury can be a strain not just mentally and physically, but financially too.

If you’ve been injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault, and you’ve lost income because of it, there’s a strong chance you can claim for lost wages. This applies regardless of whether you were injured at work or elsewhere.

Here we explore how to claim for loss of earnings, what evidence you’ll need, and how to maximise your compensation.

Types of Loss of Earnings Claims

Short-term loss of earnings: For injuries causing a few days or weeks off work
Long-term loss of earnings: For injuries resulting in months or years of inability to work
Loss of future earnings: For injuries affecting your long-term earning capacity
Loss of overtime or bonuses: For missed opportunities to earn additional income
Self-employed loss of earnings: For business owners or freelancers who’ve lost income

It might be that an accident has stopped you from working for a few days or weeks. Alternatively, your situation might be serious enough to prevent you from doing your job for months, years, or even indefinitely. Whatever your circumstances, and whatever type of injury you’ve suffered, a loss of earnings claim requires evidence.

Evidence Required for Loss of Earnings Claims

For Employed Individuals

Recent payslips (typically for the 3 months or 13 weeks prior to the accident)
Bank statements
P60 forms
Employment contract detailing salary and benefits
Statement from your employer confirming time off and lost wages

The simplest way to prove how much income you’ve lost is through your most recent payslips. In many cases, payslips for the three months, or 13 weeks, prior to the accident will be enough, but you may need more. Bank statements can be used if necessary.

In straightforward cases, it’s then a case of calculating how long you’ve been unable to work and how much take-home pay you’ve missed out on. Be aware that the sum you’ll be due will reflect your net monthly pay – in other words, the income you normally receive after tax and national insurance contributions.

Issues such as overtime, bonuses, holiday allowances, pension payments and other perks can all be considered too, so long as you can prove you would otherwise have benefited from them. Where things like overtime are concerned, payslips of colleagues can provide useful evidence to back up your case.

And don’t worry if you work erratic hours or have a variable wage from month to month. It’s often possible to look at previous payslips to come up with a figure that represents your average income.

For Self-Employed Individuals

Tax returns for the past 3 years
Business accounts
Invoices or contracts for work you were unable to complete
Bank statements
Accountant’s statement

Although the claims tend to be slightly more complicated, you’re still entitled to claim for loss of earnings if you’re self-employed.

You’ll need to provide the last three years’ worth of your verified business accounts (or as close to three years as possible) to show your average earnings. This helps to work out the loss of profit caused by your accident.

Where feasible, you should also show evidence of work projects that were in the calendar before the injury, but which became impossible to fulfil. Evidence of this kind might take the form of written instructions from a client, a pre-agreed contract that’s now been lost, or even a dated email exchange.

It’s also helpful to keep a careful record of the days you were (or still are) unable to work, as well as a detailed overview of your financial accounts.

Calculating Loss of Earnings

Your solicitor will typically calculate your loss of earnings based on your net pay (after tax and national insurance). The calculation may include:

Basic salary
Overtime payments
Bonuses
Commission
Pension contributions
Other work-related benefits

For those with variable income, an average may be calculated based on previous earnings.

Claiming for Future Loss of Earnings

If your injury has long-term effects on your ability to work, you may be able to claim for future loss of earnings. This could include:

Reduced earning capacity due to disability
Inability to return to your previous job
Need for retraining or career change
Early retirement due to injury

If you’ve been unlucky enough to suffer a serious accident, your claim might be far more significant. And if your capacity to work is still severely reduced, affecting your long-term prospects, the losses you’re suffering may well be substantial. This may also apply if you’ve returned to work, only to find that your injuries have forced you to stop again.

If you’re nearing retirement age, or have been involved in an extremely bad accident, it might be genuinely impossible for you to return to work at all. In this instance, your total losses could include your expected earnings up until the time you were likely to retire.

Most cases of this kind would use the standard retirement age, unless there was strong proof that you were due to carry on working beyond this time. Evidence such as a formal arrangement with your employer would be valuable here.

Self-employed workers can also potentially claim loss of earnings beyond retirement age – but again, a solid argument would be needed to support the case.

Impact on Benefits

Receiving compensation for loss of earnings may affect your eligibility for certain benefits. It’s important to seek advice on how a compensation award might impact your specific situation. Some benefit payments would generally be deducted from any compensation you’re due for loss of earnings.

Interim Payments

If you’re struggling financially while your claim is ongoing, or you’ve been forced to stop work for an extensive period, you may be able to request an interim payment. This is a partial payment of your expected compensation to help cover immediate expenses – a way of receiving part of your compensation before a final decision has been made.

Other Financial Losses You Can Claim

In addition to lost wages, you may be able to claim for:

Medical expenses
Travel costs to medical appointments
Cost of care or assistance at home
Modifications to your home or vehicle
Loss of pension contributions

Other recoverable expenses could include unused gym memberships, missed cultural or sporting events (assuming tickets had already been purchased), and even clothing and personal effects damaged in the accident.

If you’ve had to employ tradespeople to take on tasks around the house that you would otherwise have done yourself, it may also be possible to add these expenses to a claim. Ensure you keep all receipts.

Maximising Your Loss of Earnings Claim

To ensure you receive full compensation for lost earnings:

Keep detailed records of all time off work
Document any missed opportunities for overtime or career advancement
Gather all relevant financial documents promptly
Be honest and accurate about your earnings and time off
Consider the long-term impact of your injury on your career

Claiming for loss of earnings is an important part of ensuring you’re fully compensated for the impact of your injury. While the process can be complex, especially for those with variable income or self-employment, a skilled personal injury solicitor can help you navigate the claim and maximise your compensation.

To find out more, or to start your claim today, call us on 01225 430285. If you prefer, . After just a few minutes on the phone, we’ll have enough information to allow our solicitors to get your claim started.

Frequently Asked Questions

96 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Comments & Questions

Read on for questions and advice about claiming...

Injury at work they accepted liability. Nearly two years. On sick leave no pay. Injuries ongoing. Been offered light duties a new job role. If I accept this part time new job does that have any affect on claiming previous loss of earnings under old job role.

Accepting a new role should not impact any claim, but you should discuss the potential future change of income with your Solicitor before you accept the role.

If the new role has a lower salary than the previous role, your Solicitor will need to consider whether they can recover the difference between the new and previous salary in your special damages claim.

I had a trip on uneven walking surface on a building site. I am employed as a lift engineer, the injury I have had will not allow me to return to my old role. I have been offered a different role but it is half the salary, can I claim future loss? If so how is it calculated?

If you make a claim for personal injury compensation (which given the description of the incident is certainly a possibility) your claim settlement would include compensation for the injuries and also enable you to recover previous and future loss of income – if successful.

If your injuries leave you unable to return to your previous role and you suffer a loss of income, the difference between your previous income and new income will be calculated to the full allowance and that would be included in your claim settlement via the special damages element of the claim.

Hi appreciate some advise please.
My dad was in a serious accident breaking both arms and hurting his leg and back . He hasn’t been discharged as yet from the hospital.
He is unable to move his arms properly and is having physio etc.
His insurance company have already made a payment . They are saying his insurance cover does not cover him for loss of earnings and have only in quick succession made a payment for broken bones. Also the time he spent in hospital. This doesn’t sound right as he’s unable to work and not sure how long he will be off work.
Also the extent of the injuries he’s not able to lift or move his arms as before.
Would really appreciate some advice please.

What insurance cover is paying your father for his injuries? How and where was he injured?

He may not have loss of income cover on whatever insurance he is claiming from, so it could be that he’ll have to make a separate personal injury claim to recover loss of income during his long-term recovery period.

Anyone injured in an accident at work has a right to make a claim if the injuries were not their fault or can be attributed to employer or colleague negligence. The fact that your injury was of a nature that means that there is not much that Doctors can do other prescribe pain relief and allow time to heal is not a problem in terms of your claim. Whether or not you can make a claim will depend on how your ribs were injured.

Please call us on 01225430285 so that we can discuss your accident at work with you and find out more about what happened. It is likely that you can pursue a claim and we’d be only too happy to help you.

Can you still claim a loss of earning if you have a second job?

If someone is unable to work due to an injury caused by someone else or due to the negligence of a 3rd party, the injured person can make a claim for personal injury compensation. The claimant can recover compensation for their injuries and also recover any loss of income or out of pocket expenses related to the injuries caused in the index incident at the head of their claim. If a claimant had 2 jobs, but can work neither, so long as they can demonstrate that they would have continued to earn the incomes in normal circumstances (if they had not been injured), the can recover the loss of income incurred whether that be from 1 job, or 2.

I had an accident at work in sept 2019 where I was lone working in a hotel, I had to go into the kitchen but there was a delay in the automatic lights switching on and I slipped on a leaking oil trap, badly injuring my back. I did not go back to work due to the pain and inability to walk straight, lift or drive. In February 2020 due to a break down in communication from my employer – they stopped replying to my emails and would not answer my calls – I felt so uncomfortable about my employer that I resigned. I have recently received an assessment from a back surgeon who told me it will take around 18 months from the date of the accident to recover enough to be able to return to employment. Can I claim compensation for loss of earnings for the whole 18 months or just Sept 2019-Feb 2020? If the accident had not occurred I would happily have stayed in employment with the company.

Whether or not you can claim loss of income for the whole period is unlikely as you have chosen to resign – whilst you may well have had legitimate reasons for doing so, the employers insurers will likely argue that you have partially caused your own loss of income. That said, our specialist Solicitors will always attempt to maximise a claimants settlement in terms of legitimate entitlement.

However, you can make a claim for the injury and the long term problems caused to you as a result of slipping on the oil leak.

I cut the top of my right index finger off. My employer said that I could come and work on light duties. Would I be able to claim against the employer for lost wages?

Given the severity of the injury you have sustained at work, you have every right to make a claim for accident at work compensation. We can help you with this and our specialist Solicitors are experts in pursuing claims against employers insurers to recover compensation for an injury and also to recover any loss of income or other costs caused by the accident or injury at work.

Please call us on 01225430285.

I spoke to you last time about my loss of earnings being around 9k and my case going to court because the third party are not agreeing to pay although liability has been admitted. My case was originally scheduled for 28/08/2020 but was adjourned due to the court not expecting our case hearing for that day. It is now being rescheduled. My solicitor is now advising me that in the medical loss of earnings is not mentioned and due to that it may not be recoverable. However I have GP sick notes from the date of my accident til the time I was off work. What is your view of this? Should my loss of earnings still be recoverable?

As long as you can demonstrate your usual earnings (providing payslips/bank statements) and the loss of income in the period where you cannot work, your Solicitor should be able to recover any qualifying loss of income.

I work in Sainsbury warehouse. I was using a forklift to lift a pallet. The pallet was not organised properly as the toilet roll was placed at bottom and drinks were on top. It fell on my thigh and caused my ankle to twist. I have been off work for two week. I am getting one third of my salary while I am off from work. I had online physio consultation from the insurance company. Do you think I am eligible to claim full salary since the accident happened at work ? This incident happened before but no one was hurt.
Please advise?

Thank you

My initial view is that you should make a claim for personal injury compensation to recover your lost income and also compensation for the injury caused to you. The loading of the pallet that you describe indicates that there was negligence in this matter and as the incident had happened previously (albeit without injury), the employer should have ensure that this didn’t happen again.

We can help you make a claim for personal injury compensation on a No Win No Fee basis and doing so does not affect your employment rights in anyway.

I have a Car accident claim going on and i have been advised to accept an offer, in the loss of earnings section it states an amount and says next to it to be paid to me and my employer? does this mean this amount is split equally between us both i am a bit confused to this part

If an employer has incurred costs as a result of the negligence that caused your injuries, in theory they can recover their loss in your claim also. However, they cannot recover monies due to you.

As an example, if your employer paid you in full whilst you were off work and your Solicitor was able to recover that pay, that would be money for your employer and not you – as you cannot expect to be paid twice.

I suffered a back injury at work and the consultant I saw has said the injury will prevent me working for 2 years. I tried to claim for loss of earnings but according to the lawyer I spoke to, i cannot due to receiving full sick pay I didn’t have any loss of earnings. HOWEVER….the consultant meeting happened and then 2 months later I was retired from my job and have been unemployed since. So am I right in thinking I should be able to claim loss of earnings since then? i assume the company I spoke to didnt realise I was retired shortly afterwards and assumed I was still employed.
A reply would be fantastic thank you

If you were left unable to work as a result of your injuries and lost your job as a result, you should be able to recover loss of income for the period in which you cannot work.

I bumped my knee on a trolley that was left behind me whilst working. I wasn’t aware that there was a trolley behind so as I turned, the impact was strong enough to make anguished in pain for a few seconds. It was only after 2 days of the incident that my left knee started to swell badly. I called my employer to inform them of my situation and the reason behind it. I didn’t report the accident as I was able to work after what happened, even the day after.
My prognosis is complete rest. Can I claim compensation to my employer on loss income/wages?
Best regards.

Whilst you could potentially pursue a claim against the employer, the lack of any evidence to demonstrate that the injury happened at work (no accident book), could make it very difficult to place the claim with a Solicitor on a No Win No Fee basis as it will be hard to ‘prove’ any employer negligence. If the employer is unwilling to make an accident book report, do you have any witnesses who can confirm that the incident happened?

There were few people who witnessed it and it also happened in front of our cctv. I didn’t report it as I was able to continue working after a few minutes but then my knee swelled after 2 days.

If the CCTV footage has been retained, there is evidence to support a possible claim. Without the CCTV footage, you would struggle to make a claim.

Hi. I was asked to help someone in the factory. Some heavy timber fell off a trolley and broke 5 bones in my foot. No fault of my own. I was in a cast and off work 3 months. I was not paid for the first week and also lost all my regular overtime the rest of the weeks. Lost my 6 monthly bonus. Am I entitled to claim the losses back?

Under UK law for such an accident in the workplace, you would be able to make a claim against your employers ’employer liability insurance’ policy for the injuries sustained and also to recover any loss of income or incurred medical costs.

Please call our team on 01225430285 if you would like to further discuss making a claim.

I had a fall at work and my employer didn’t pay me wages for that 1 day I was off , I have now filed a personal injury claim but not filled in loss of earnings bit yet and my employer has now asked for a self certified sick note some 11 days after the accident so that he can pay me for that 1 day. Can I do this or do I just include it with my claim?

You can include it in your claim but there would be no harm in providing the self-certification and getting the missing days pay at this stage. It would not affect your claim by doing so.

Hi, I ruptured a ligament in my knee at work clearing up materials and resulted in having 3 weeks off. I didn’t report it in accident book because I put up with the pain for a few days at work thinking it would just go away. The pain got so severe I saw a docter, got an mri. I have doctors notes and mri results. Can I claim loss of earnings for the 3 weeks ? Thanks

Under UK law, the only way you could make a claim for loss of income would be by making a claim for personal injury compensation against your employers ’employer liability insurance’ cover and succeeding with the same.

In this case, a claim would succeed if the injury to your knee can be directly attributed to employer negligence. Therefore, if you have not received adequate training by your employer or you were not provided with the right equipment or personal protective equipment (PPE) you may well be able to succeed with a claim and should contact us to take this further.

My partner suffered an injury at work. He was opening a skip, a metal bar sprang back knocking a tooth out and fracture to jaw. He has been signed off for 2 weeks but may need more. He should get SSP. Apparently the skip had been closed incorrectly causing the accident, not by my partner though. The employer is generally good and fair, and does adhere to health and safety. We wondered if might be eligible for compensation, just to cover loss of wages.

At face value, the description you have given of your partners accident at work and the injuries he has sustained would indicate that he has a valid claim for compensation – both for the pain and discomfort of the injury, but also to cover medical (dental) treatment (which could be very expensive given the loss of a tooth) and for any lost income.

Sadly, the only way your Partner can make a claim for loss of income is to make a claim for personal injury compensation. If successful – which at this stage, we would expect to be the case – your partner would then be able to recover the difference between the SSP payments he receives and the usual income he would have otherwise received.

I have had an injury at work. In mid February I had my right hand crushed. I have had 2 operations and due a 3rd operation on the 3rd of June. My earnings immediately went to half and now this morning been told is now dropped significantly to a quarter of my usual earnings a month. I am frustrated to be in this situation and now I am fretting and worrying like I have never because of this hammer blow

I live by myself so bills will be due very soon and I am going to be cornered because of the financial situation this will cause. I am considering selling things to help with some cash flow just to get some food in and help with the travel costs to Norwich hospital (that I have been making nearly every week) to have my injury assessed. Not sure what you think or can do in my situation, I am starting to feel trapped and anxious on top of my injury.

Coping with a loss of wages after an accident work is a very common stress that our claimants discuss with us. Sadly, there is no obligation on employers to pay staff their salary whilst they are off work due to injury or illness – even if that was caused in an accident at work. That you have received half pay and now quarter pay clearly shows that you are losing income.

Your rights in this regard are to make a claim for compensation for the injury you sustained at work. Whether or not you have a valid claim is not something I can say for certain at this stage because I don’t know how or why your hand was crushed. However, you clearly have a very serious injury given that you’ve already had 2 surgeries and await a 3rd.

We would very much like to speak with you to find out more about your work and your accident so that we can advise you and if appropriate, place your claim with our specialist Solicitors in order that they can pursue your claim for compensation and also recover any lost income caused by this accident.

Your loss of income caused by your nasty injury at work is something that can be resolved in the long term, by making a claim for compensation. If you were to succeed with a claim, you would be well compensated for the nasty hand injury and for the future impact that this will have on you, as well as recovering any lost income or incurred costs.

I am out of work for the last 6 months with work related stress, can I claim my lost of earnings from my company?

Work related stress claims are notoriously difficult to pursue successfully. Indeed, to succeed it is vital that the employers were aware of genuine stress and concern BEFORE any period of serious absence began. If the employer was not on notice of your situation before it became chronic, they are likely to avoid any liability as they would simply say that they did not know that there had been any issue and that they’d had no opportunity to resolve it.

I had an accident at work 6 months ago and didn’t know at the time I would need an operation and leading to loss of earnings. Is it too late to claim?

A period of 6 months between an accident at work and making a claim is nowhere near to being too late. It is not uncommon (particularly when the full extent of an injury is not known or appreciated) for a claimant to not make a claim immediately.

We would be very happy to help you with your claim.

I had an accident at work where I crushed my right index finger which was treated with an operation to put a screw in the finger, the bone would not heal so last week I had to have the tip of my finger amputated. I am unable to do my job but have been told I can only get ssp which is not covering my bills. Is there anything that I can do?

You can pursue a claim for compensation after the injuries you have sustained in this accident at work. If the cause of the injury can be attributed to a lack of employer training, or employer negligence – such as a failure to provide the correct safety protections you would be able to claim compensation for the damage to and loss of the top of your finger as well as recover all lost income caused.

Injuries to the fingers can lead to substantial settlements in claims for personal injury compensation. As you have lost part of the finger, you have lost part of your dexterity and grip strength. As such, a permanent injury and one that will impact your day-to-day ability and is likely to affect you at work. Therefore, it is important that you are provided with expert specialist legal representation – something you can be sure of with Direct2Compensation.