If you can’t work after a DC truck accident, you will quickly encounter many problems. In addition to the issue of dealing with immense pain from such a severe motor vehicle accident, you now have to deal with immense medical bills for your injuries on top of other bills that may be difficult to pay due to your inability to work. When you speak to a truck accident attorney at Gelb & Gelb, P.C., the first thing to know is that we are here for you. We have handled thousands of accidents just like yours. We know what you are going through and can advise you on how to get through it. One of the worst things in the world is being unable to provide for your family. We have had thousands of clients who are hard workers.
They want nothing more than to resume work and fight through the pain, but they know that doing so would aggravate their injuries from their accidents. Sitting home and resting under a doctor’s orders can be challenging. Many people need an outlet. Sitting at home all day and not working is an added pain for many. We have heard this from clients many times. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to alleviate the financial burden. For example, we may ask your doctor’s office not to demand you pay your bills until after your recovery. In doing so, they may ask us to write them a letter known as an Authorizations and Assignments letter. This guarantees that they will receive their due pay from the recovery.
Our attorneys will work behind the scenes throughout your case to ensure you receive compensation for the time missed.
You may be entitled to compensation if you can’t work after a DC truck accident. Civil tort law has a couple of requirements for being entitled to compensation. The first and simplest requirement is that your treating physician says you are unable to work due to injuries you sustained in your truck accident. Your physician will then provide you with a disability slip. This makes sense. You should not have to continue working and risk worsening a severe medical condition because someone else acted negligently. But what if your doctor does not excuse you from work? You still have options.
For example, while your doctor does not excuse you from work, your doctor still prescribes that you receive medical treatment a few times a week. If you have to miss time from work to make these appointments, as many people do, you are entitled to some compensation. Courts typically see three hours as valid for a wage loss claim. But of course, the time you miss from work does have to correspond with your appointments. Otherwise, receiving compensation for merely missing time would make no sense if it is unexcused.
Many of our clients drive for UberEats or DoorDash. They may call and tell us they can’t work after a DC truck accident. Wage loss claims for delivery drivers have become increasingly common over the last few decades. Before the advent of these apps, there would still be the occasional claim for delivery drivers, but they were infrequent. Now, drivers cannot work for weeks because their car or truck is in the repair shop. If you drive for UberEats, Uber, Lyft, or DoorDash and cannot work due to your truck accident case, we can assist with your lost wage claim. While you have a duty to mitigate your damages, there is little you can do for at least a couple of weeks if your car is undergoing repairs.
This extended period of being unable to work will worsen if your vehicle is hit by a semi-truck or some other large truck. Due to the weight and size difference between a truck and any other vehicle on the road, the property damage sustained can be critical.
We calculate compensation when you can’t work after a DC truck accident. To do so, we calculate the wages you missed due to your accident. Then, we argue that you are entitled to total compensation for every cent you lost. That is what the law entitles you to. Although the adverse insurance carrier will fight tooth and nail to say you are not entitled to that amount, a judge will award you the amount so long as we can prove that it was lost and establish the causal link.
You may encounter issues when your salary is not consistent. For example, if you work for tips as a server or food delivery driver, your weekly wage amount might vary. Our truck accident lawyers can establish an average weekly wage, determine your hourly wage based on the average weekly wage, evaluate how many hours you missed, and prevail on a wage loss claim based on those numbers. Thus, while some clients tell us they do not have a real job, just a delivery job that is unclear about hourly wages, that will not prohibit us from making a claim.
There are long-term implications of being unable to work after a DC truck accident. For example, the road to physical recovery after such serious injuries can be long and unpredictable. Recovery is not always a linear process. As truck accident lawyers, it is our job to win you compensation for your complete injuries. The last thing we want to do is settle your case a couple of weeks after your accident, just to discover later you need costly surgery. We have had many instances in which surgery is required months after the accident. We would never advise you to take a settlement offer that does not account for that surgery cost and cause you to pay for surgery necessitated by the defendant’s negligence.
Thus, while a plaintiff and truck accident victim may be eager to accept a settlement offer, be done with the legal aspect of their case, and move on, we always recommend waiting until you complete your treatment.
A second long-term implication of being unable to work after a DC truck accident is the effect it could have on your job performance. Even if your doctor tells you you cannot work for fear of aggravating your injury, your employer may need you on the job. This puts you in a tough predicament. We will include this as part of your case when we negotiate your claim. There is little you can do in this situation, and there is no reason your job performance should be suffering because of the negligence of a third party. Of course, proving that these two events are causally related may be difficult. If you do get fired from your job because you are unable to work because of your injuries, we may need to subpoena your former employer to testify at trial.
The DC truck accident attorneys at Gelb & Gelb, P.C. are dedicated to getting you compensation for your lost wages. If you can’t work after a DC truck accident, there are steps you can take to pay your bills on time. Do not navigate this challenging process alone. We have been practicing this field of law for 70 years and have handled thousands of cases.
Call our office today for a free consultation at (202) 331-7227.
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