Loss of Business Income

Simple Concept, A lot of paper work!

Loss of business income is a claim that can be made when there is a bodily injury or a property damage claim. The obvious requirement for this claim is the �business� part.

You must have business before you can make a claim for loss of business income. However, independent contractors, self employed, and/or people that work in commissions can make this claim.

The claim is simple to understand. Some one hits you and injures you (or damages your tools) and you can not earn as much as you were earning before. You would be owed for the earning that lost. Again, very simple to understand but a loss of business income is one of the most complex claims to win.

The insurance carrier will remind you that you must show damages. This will mean that you must show actual monetary loss. The insurance carrier will make you show documentation about your income. Well, when you are self employed, work in a commission basis, or are an independent contractor this can be very hard.

The fact that you have a business could mean that you make money even if you are not at work! Or it can mean that you have no income at all, or that not only you are not brining income but you have expenses and bills that will go unpaid because you cannot perform.

If you are an independent contractor you would have to show that you had other jobs line up after you finished the current work or that you could not start because of the accident.

Get a great Bodily Injury E-book for more key information.

If you are a dentist, you will have to show that you
moved your appointments and that your dental assistants could not possibly or legally perform on your behalf.

If you are a Realtor, then you are going to have a lot of issues. A house takes more than a week to sale and there are many factors that could delay the closing date (financing, home inspection, appraisal, etc.) The insurance adjuster will be quick to tell you that there is not enough evidence to pay you for the loss of commissions.

So the real issue will be proving your damages. The insurance carrier will make many arguments to not pay what they owe for. They will ask you for documentation and then some more documentation.

They will want to see medical records that justify you being out of work. They will also want to see the entire financial picture of your business. A loss of business income can become the biggest nightmare.

The most common and somewhat fair resolution is to show your personal income tax. I know this is probably giving the insurance company too much information and sometimes you cannot give your tax info (you did not file taxes).

If you can show how much you earn solely by your work (not real estate, investment, dividends, savings, SSI, Disability, etc.) Then you are going to show that number divided by the days you could not work. This will give you an average salary per day.

If your loss of business income is greater than what the average day was (say your work is seasonal) , then you have to prove that. Also you could add two or three years of tax data to make your numbers look closer to reality.

There are obviously problems with this approach, if your business is taking off then you could definitely have several problems showing that this income is more than past taxes data can show.

Whatever your argument is, make sure you have a way to show documentation or actual evidence of your loss. Your insurance company knows that if you cannot show paperwork to them, then you cannot show paperwork to court of law.

If you�ve been injured and don�t know what to do next, a local personal injury attorney can answer your questions and help you decide on your next steps. The insurance claim process can be complicated, and insurance companies don�t always act in your best interests. Just fill out the form below to talk with a personal injury lawyer near you.

Loss of business income could also have a loss of earning capacity. Read more.

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