How are my lost wages calculated for a personal injury demand?

What Counts as Lost Wages in a North Carolina Injury Demand?

A personal injury demand usually presents lost wages as part of the claimant’s damages. The calculation should reflect income actually lost because the injury prevented the claimant from working, reduced the claimant’s hours, or required time away from work for injury-related medical appointments.

The basic calculation is often:

Verified work time missed × the claimant’s regular rate of pay

That simple formula may work for someone with a fixed hourly schedule. Other employment arrangements require more detail. The demand should use records rather than assumptions and should explain how each figure was reached.

Hourly employees

For an hourly employee, the calculation commonly starts with the number of regular hours missed and the normal hourly rate. If overtime was a consistent part of the employee’s schedule, prior pay records may help show whether additional lost income should be included. Occasional or uncertain overtime should not be treated as guaranteed income.

Salaried employees

For a salaried employee, the salary can be converted into a daily or weekly rate and compared with the verified period of unpaid absence. The packet should also explain whether the employee continued receiving a full salary, received partial pay, or used paid leave.

Commission, bonus, or variable income

When earnings change from one pay period to another, several pre-injury pay periods may be reviewed to identify a reasonable earnings pattern. Commission statements, bonus histories, sales records, schedules, and prior pay stubs may help. A demand should distinguish income supported by an established history from income that is merely possible.

Self-employed claimants

A self-employed person usually needs more than a personal statement about missed income. Insurers commonly request prior tax returns, often covering multiple years, along with invoices, appointment calendars, contracts, bank records, profit-and-loss statements, or records of work that had to be canceled.

Lost business revenue is not always the same as lost personal income. Expenses that would have been incurred to earn that revenue may need to be considered. The goal is to document the financial loss caused by the injury without treating every missed sale or canceled project as net income.

What Evidence Supports the Calculation?

A lost-wage figure is more persuasive when the work absence, pay rate, and connection to the injury can each be verified. Useful records may include:

• Pay stubs from before and after the injury;
• An employer-completed wage verification showing the pay rate, normal schedule, dates missed, and amount of unpaid earnings;
• Timecards, attendance records, work schedules, or payroll summaries;
• Documents showing regular overtime, commissions, bonuses, or shift differentials;
• Medical records or written work restrictions that correspond with the absence;
• Records identifying time missed for medical appointments;
• Paid-time-off, sick-leave, disability, or salary-continuation records; and
• For self-employed claimants, tax returns and business records showing historical income and canceled work.

An employer may require a signed employment-information release before providing wage records. The claimant should review any authorization carefully and make sure the resulting verification accurately identifies the dates, pay arrangement, and time missed.

How Paid Leave and Partial Work Affect the Demand

Using vacation time, sick leave, or another paid benefit can make the presentation more complicated. The packet should accurately state whether the claimant received wages while absent and whether leave balances were used. It should not describe an absence as entirely unpaid if payroll records show continued compensation.

The records should also account for partial losses. For example, a claimant may have returned to work with shorter shifts, missed only certain appointment periods, or temporarily moved to a lower-paying assignment. In that situation, the calculation may compare expected earnings with actual earnings during the affected period.

Past lost wages are different from reduced future earning ability. A claim that an injury will limit future employment generally requires evidence about the claimant’s occupation, work history, income, restrictions, and the expected duration of those restrictions. A personal injury demand should not combine a possible future loss with already documented past wages without explaining the difference.

Medical Mileage Is Calculated Separately

Mileage to injury-related medical appointments is not part of the lost-wage calculation. It may be presented separately as a medical travel or out-of-pocket expense.

A mileage calculation generally uses the verified round-trip distance between the correct starting location and the medical provider for each visit. That distance is then multiplied by the mileage rate identified in the packet. The calculation should disclose the rate used rather than leaving the claimant to guess.

A useful mileage log should show:

• The date of each medical visit;
• The provider’s name and location;
• The correct starting address;
• The round-trip mileage;
• The purpose of the trip; and
• Any separate parking, toll, public transportation, or rideshare expense supported by a receipt.

Duplicate trips, canceled appointments, telehealth visits, and treatment unrelated to the injury should not be included. Appointment lists and medical records can be compared with the mileage log to check accuracy.

How This Applies to the Verification Packet

Here, the outdated home address affects the medical-mileage calculation because it may change the distance assigned to each appointment. It should not ordinarily change the lost-wage calculation, which depends on employment records, pay information, and verified work time missed.

Correcting the address before signing is a sensible step. After the revised packet arrives, the claimant can compare the listed address, appointment dates, provider locations, round-trip distances, and stated mileage rate. The claimant should also check that the wage section matches pay stubs, the employer’s verification, and the actual dates or hours missed.

If a figure cannot be traced to a supporting record or a clear formula, it is reasonable to ask how it was calculated before verifying the packet. A signed verification should reflect information the claimant believes is complete and accurate.

North Carolina Rules Still Affect the Overall Claim

Documenting lost income does not by itself establish a right to payment. A claimant generally must also connect the loss to the injury and establish legal responsibility for the incident. North Carolina permits contributory negligence to be raised as a defense, so evidence about both parties’ conduct may affect the claim even when the wage calculation is accurate.

Deadlines also matter. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52 provides a three-year limitations period for many North Carolina personal injury actions, although different rules can apply in some cases. Preparing a demand, exchanging verification materials, or negotiating with an insurer does not automatically extend the deadline for filing a lawsuit.