Lost Wage Reimbursement

Answer:

I am commonly asked whether or not somebody’s lost wages can be compensated when they’ve been injured in an automobile accident. It’s a good question because most people, unfortunately, can’t go one or two weeks without a paycheck. The challenge, of course, when there’s an injury claim and the injury has prevented our client from working is, “How are they going to be able to pay their bills while they wait for their personal injury claim to develop?”
There’s an answer. Florida is a no-fault state. Under the Florida no-fault law, your medical bills can be reimbursed up to a certain amount, as well as your lost wages. That’s important to know. If a client is in a vulnerable situation where missing a week or two of a paycheck can have dire consequences for them, it’s really the responsibility of the lawyer to advise the client that they have a right to reserve money on their no-fault coverage to pay for lost wages.

If the no-fault money, which is $10,000 in the state of Florida, all goes to pay medical bills, and my client ends up being evicted from their home or having their electricity turned off, it doesn’t matter whether they got good medical care or not if they can’t take care of themselves or their family. You can talk to the insurance company adjuster on the no-fault side and ask that they set aside a set amount of money so that when you present lost income and the lost wages, you can be compensated and continue to take care of your family.