One of the biggest losses that severe traumatic brain injury accident victims face in South Carolina is lost income. If the victim is hurt badly enough, she may face a future without the ability to earn as much as before. Some victims cannot work at all.
South Carolina law provides the right to recover lost income from an accident causing a brain injury.
NOTE: If the brain injury occurred at work, you qualify for certain benefits, if you prove the right kind of brain injury. But proving the inability to earn the same living, or work at all, is handled the same as described below.
The challenge victims have is, proving the amount of lost income in a way that’s effective and admissible in court. That requires experts.
If you're worried about proving lost income- or anything else- in your South Carolina brain injury case, we'll answer your questions for free. Call our Spartanburg accident injury and workers’ comp lawyer toll free at 888-230-1841 or fill out a Get Help Now form.
Proving You Can’t Earn as Much, or Can’t Work at All
With heavy amounts of money at stake, don’t expect any insurance company, workers’ compensation commission, judge, or jury to just “take your word for it” that you can’t earn as much or can’t work at all.
You need an expert trained in assessing your ability to work to search for the jobs you qualify for with your limitations and estimate how much you can expect to make.
That expert is called a vocational evaluator. They perform detailed assessments of:
- Your injury and medical care
- Your limitations from the injury
- Your overall health, including medications
- Your physical and mental ability to work
After that, they conduct an investigation for jobs you can do, if any, plus how much you could expect to earn. If they conclude you can’t work, they declare you permanently vocationally disabled.
For accidents outside work, there’s one more piece of the puzzle.
Calculating the True Amount of Lost Income
You need a professional “number-cruncher” for two important reasons:
- Many jobs offer benefits like retirement and health insurance. If you can’t work, you lose those benefits. They have monetary value, too.
- The amount of future lost income must be reduced to present value, as required by law. That can be a complicated calculation.
An economist knows how to compile the evidence needed to support the calculations and how to do the calculations themselves.
How Do You Find the Right Experts?
Hire a lawyer who knows how to find them! This is a critical part of your case, and it’s got to be done right. It could help you gain a lot of compensation you and your family really need. Because of the potentially enormous amount at stake, expect the insurance company to counter with experts of its own, to destroy your case.
That’s why it’s vital to have experts who are highly educated, well-respected, and trustworthy. Don’t risk losing what you really need. Get the right accident attorney, who knows the right experts.
When you suffer a traumatic brain injury in an accident or at work, you really can’t afford to not get legal advice. There’s way too much at stake for you and your family. To get your questions answered and on the road to peace of mind, call me toll-free at 888-230-1841 or fill out a Get Help Now form. I’m here to shine a light on your one and only chance to maximize your compensation and benefits for a life-changing injury.
If you are wondering what it’s like to work with us, read these real-life client assessments on a website we don’t own.
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