Loss Of Earnings Compensation - What Is It And How To Claim

Have you suffered from a personal injury, medical negligence or had your data breached and this resulted in you incurring financial losses? If so, this guide will explain how to claim for loss of earnings compensation.

Key Takeaways

If you suffered an injury or harm that was not your fault and incurred financial losses, you may be eligible to make a loss of earnings compensation claim.
You may be entitled to compensation for lost and future loss of earnings.
You must provide evidence of your injuries or the harm suffered alongside proof of your loss of earnings.
Our solicitors may help with your claim for compensation on a No Win No Fee basis.

To start your claim today, get in touch with our helpful advisors:

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Browse Our Guide

Who Can Make A Loss Of Earnings Compensation Claim?
What Can Loss of Earnings Include?
What Is The Difference Between Loss of Earnings and Future Loss of Earnings?
Can I Make A Loss of Earnings Claim If I’m Self-Employed?
What Do I Need To Make A Loss of Earnings Claim?
Can I Claim For Other Financial Losses?
Why Claim For Loss of Earnings On A No Win No Fee Basis?
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Who Can Make A Loss Of Earnings Compensation Claim?

There are various situations in which you could be eligible to make a personal injury or medical negligence claim (the eligibility for a data breach is a bit different, we will discuss this shortly). In order to claim loss of earnings compensation, you must make a claim for injuries or harm suffered as a result of a third party breaching their duty of care.

It may possible to seek compensation if you meet the specific eligibility criteria below:

You must be owed a duty of care by the third party
The third party must have breached this duty
This breach must have resulted in your injuries and loss of earnings

A duty of care is a legal obligation that is imposed upon specific individuals or organisations. The responsible party must take proper care to avoid causing foreseeable harm. If they fail to do so and a person in their care becomes injured and suffers financial losses, they may be entitled to compensation.

Furthermore, you will not have a valid claim if you have not suffered an injury or some type of harm. Loss of earnings are only recoverable as part of a personal injury, medical negligence or data breach claim.

Below are some examples of when you are owed a duty of care.

Using The Roads

All road users have a duty of care to use the roads in a safe and reasonable manner that avoids causing damage. In doing so, they must adhere to the provisions of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code. If they fail in this duty and cause an injury, you could be eligible to make a road traffic accident claim.

For example, if you are using a pedestrian crossing and a driver fails to stop at a red light, you could be hit and suffer injuries. You could have good grounds to claim pedestrian injury compensation, which may also be able to recover your lost income.

In The Workplace

All employers must take reasonable and practicable steps to ensure the health and safety of their employees. This is the duty of care owed to you in the workplace as set out by the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Should your employer fail to comply with relevant health and safety laws and you sustain an injury as a result, you could have a valid accident at work claim.

For example, if a risk assessment identified the need for personal protective equipment (PPE) while using a table saw and this was not provided, you could suffer an eye injury. As a result, you could have a strong claim against your employer in which you could recover loss of earnings compensation.

While Using Public Spaces

All those in control of public spaces have a duty of care to ensure all visitors are reasonably safe from harm while on their premises as per the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. To have a valid public liability claim, you must prove that you sustained an injury due to a breach in this duty.

For example, the council has a duty of care to ensure that the pavements they are responsible for are fit for use. If they are notified of a defect and fail to make it safe, such as signposting until they can repair it, and you suffer injuries in a slip, trip or fall, you could claim.

Harm In A Medical Setting

Not all harm experienced in a medical setting will mean that you have a valid medical negligence claim. It must still satisfy the eligibility criteria.

When you seek medical attention, the professionals involved in your treatment automatically owe you a duty of care. This means that the care and treatment you receive must meet expected professional standards. However, if you would like to make a medical negligence claim, you must prove that a breach of this duty of care caused you to suffer avoidable harm.

For example, if you are given medication but it clearly states in your medical records that you are allergic to it, you may have a strong medical negligence claim.

If Your Data Has Been Breached

The requirements to claim data breach compensation are slightly different. Our personal data (information that can be used, either by itself or alongside other pieces of information to identify the data subject) is protected by the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR).

Data controllers (the party that decides why data will be processed and how to go about it) or processors (a party appointed for the sole purpose of processing data) are responsible for any data that they process (this is what is done to personal data, such as the collection, recording or deleting of it). Should a security incident occur that affects the confidentiality, availability or integrity of your personal data, you could be eligible to claim for this data breach.

In order to have a valid claim, you will need to prove that:

The data controller or processor failed to comply with the data protection laws resulting in a data breach. This security incident could occur due to human error or malicious intent. Additionally, breaches could occur in cyber or non-cyber incidents.
Your personal data, such as your name or address, were compromised in this incident.
You experienced harm, either financial or damage to your mental health (or both) due to this breach of your personal data. The financial losses, such as a loss of earnings due to taking time off work because of the impact of the breach, are referred to as ‘material damage’.

For example, staff with access to personal data were not trained in data protection. This resulted in a secretary leaving files containing personal data where members of the public could see them. As a result, your file was stolen and this caused you distress as well as the need to relocate.

One of the team members can assess the situation that led to your injuries or harm and advise on whether you have good grounds to pursue compensation.

What Can Loss of Earnings Include?

If you want to recover loss of earnings compensation as part of your claim, you may want to know what can be included.

Here are some examples of what you may be entitled to recover as part of your claim.

Lost income and wages
Lost pension contributions
Lost annual leave
Lost commission, bonuses and overtime
Future losses

To learn more about what loss of earnings can include, contact our helpful advisors.

What Is The Difference Between Loss of Earnings and Future Loss of Earnings?

If you are eligible to recover loss of earnings compensation, depending on the circumstances of your claim, your settlement may consist of either or both lost wages and future losses.

Compensation for loss of earnings covers any wages you have lost for your time off work due to your injuries if you were not entitled to statutory sick pay (or the difference between SSP and your normal wage). Some examples of compensation you may be awarded include missed wages, pension contributions or lost overtime.

In some cases, injuries may be so severe that you can no longer complete that line of work or work at all. Therefore, you may be awarded compensation for future loss of earnings. Your award will be calculated by a team establishing how long you have had off work following your injury and the date you may have retired. The total loss of earnings will then be calculated along with pension contributions to determine how much you should be compensated.

Contact our advisors to start your loss of earnings compensation claim today.

Can I Make A Loss of Earnings Claim If I’m Self-Employed?

If you have suffered a loss of earnings while self-employed, you may be entitled to compensation; however, the claim eligibility criteria differs slightly.

If you are self-employed, you are owed a duty of care under Section 4 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, by those in control of the premises you are working on. You may be eligible to claim if this duty becomes breached, resulting in your injuries and loss of earnings.

You must provide documentation of your income or wages to claim financial losses as a self-employed worker. Some examples include:

Your SA302 calculation from HMRC to provide evidence of your earnings.
Recent bank statements to show your average income.
Work-related contracts.
Business accounts to show any profits and losses in your business.

Contact our advisors to learn more about claiming for lost earnings while self-employed.

What Do I Need To Make A Loss of Earnings Claim?

If you want to claim lost earnings as part of your personal injury claim, you first must be able to prove that you have sustained an injury in an accident that was not your fault. You can do this by presenting the following evidence:

CCTV or dashcam footage of your accident
Copies of medical reports
A copy of the accident report book
Photographs of your injuries
Witness contact details

If this has been established, you must provide evidence of your financial losses. You can do this by presenting evidence such as:

Your contract of employment to determine if you are contracted to sick pay
Pay slips or any documents that present your wages
Bank and credit card statements
Bills and receipts

Contact our advisors today to discuss other evidence you could submit, or what items you could collect to prove a data breach or medical negligence claim.

Can I Claim For Other Financial Losses?

You may be entitled to compensation if you incurred financial losses after being injured in an accident that was not your fault.

In most cases, claimants incur financial losses for the time they need to take off work to ensure they recover from their injuries. However, you may be compensated for all of your financial losses if it resulted from your accident, such as:

Medical expenses.
Travel expenses.
Costs towards special equipment for your recovery.
Costs towards home adjustments that are essential for your support and safety.
Money towards domestic help, such as a cleaner or childminder.
The costs of nursing care or rehabilitation.

Contact our advisors today if you have any questions about what financial losses you can claim.

Why Claim For Loss of Earnings On A No Win No Fee Basis?

If you want to start a loss of earnings compensation claim, you may benefit from the help of our solicitors. They are experienced in personal injury, data breach and medical negligence claims. They can use their specialist skills to support you by:

Explaining the claims process
Explaining any legal terminology and documents
Helping you obtain evidence and build your case
Negotiate settlements on your behalf
Ensure that the full value of your injuries/harm and any financial losses, such as loss of earnings is calculated and included in your claim.

Further, our solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis. Therefore, you may sign a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) with them. Getting legal help from Advice and signing a CFA may be your best financial option as:

You will not be expected to pay solicitor’s fees as the claim commences or moves through the claims process.
If your claim is unsuccessful, our solicitors will not request any payments for their services.
Our solicitors will only take a small percentage of your compensation as their success fee if your claim is successful. This percentage is legally limited.