I. Pain & Suffering

As you can imagine, there is no precise formula that provides an amount of monetary compensation for the pain, suffering and inconvenience caused by your injuries. The amount of money you receive will vary based on the severity of the injury and whether your condition is permanent.

II. Wage And Income Loss

While it relates to your injury, wage and income loss is a separate component of your insurance claim.

A. Prescription for time off work

You are entitled to compensation for time missed from work. However, you will need to verify that you were not able to work. It is very important that your medical provider gives you a “prescription” for time off work.

B. Income verification

Once you have established that you were not able to work, you will have to prove how much money you lost as a direct result of this collision.

1. Wage loss verification from employer

If you work as an employee, obtain a letter from your employer detailing how many days you were absent, how much money you lost, and whether you used up vacation or sick time.

2. Income tax records

If you are self-employed, the insurance company may want to see your income tax records for the past two or more years.

If you don’t have copies of your previous tax returns, you can request them from the IRS website - IRS.gov. If you prefer, the insurance company can send you a release form which requests the desired tax returns - but the process may take considerably longer.

III. Statute of Limitations

Each state has its own time limits for bringing a claim against a third party. If you do not settle or sue within that time limit, you may lose your ability to make a claim, and you may never receive compensation for your damages. Check with an attorney in your area if you intend to make a claim or bring suit against an at-fault party.

Talk to a qualified attorney for free: If you get in an accident, you should speak to a qualified attorney. It’s almost always free. There’s many reasons you should do this (see my article entitled: Top 10 Reasons To Make A Free Call To An Attorney First). The key is to make sure the attorney is qualified.

If you like, you may call me or email me and I’d be glad to help you find the top attorney in your area. The best way to email me is to get your claim value by filling out the 10 questions in the free Claim Calculator link below. That will give me both your email address and specific information about your case (amount of property damage, medical bills, wage loss, etc.) I’m able to find, through trial lawyer association list-serves and other means, the top attorneys in every area of the United States. I communicate directly with the attorney about your case particulars, and if he’s willing to meet with you, I connect you with the attorney so you can schedule a time to meet or speak about your case.

Komron Michael Allahyari, Esq. has been practicing law for over 17 years and is the founding member of Washington Law Group http://walawgroup.com He has handled multi-million dollar personal injury cases in several states and recently invented the free Claim Calculator for injured people to obtain a quick valuation for their claim http://collisionwizard.bbbvideo.com/cw1