More Wage Loss Facts

Self-employment claimants calculate their wage loss by deducting business expenses from their net income.

Claimants are entitled to recover salary, increases, overtime, COLA, etc. This is based upon the fact that the statute provides for the recovery of compensation the insured "would have" earned but for the Michigan car accident injury. For example, if a claimant can prove that she was ready to return to a position available with her prior employer and that she would have returned to supplement her income, then she is entitled to recover the increased wage loss .

In a nutshell, work loss benefits are there to compensate you for income you would have received but for the Michigan automobile accident.

However, there are certain items that are not recoverable under work loss benefits . One, for example, is fringe benefits or perks. These include employer contributions to pension plans, health insurance premiums and, social security taxes paid by the employer. However, if loss of profit sharing is considered part of the employee's normal wage, then they may be recoverable.

Other unrecoverable items include

• Investment income
• Contributions by claimant's employer to claimant's federal social security tax payment
• Work lost as a result of a disabling injury or intervening illness which occurs after the Michigan auto accident and would have rendered the claimant unable to work (i.e., heart attack)
• Work lost as a result of claimant's incarceration.

Work loss benefits terminate when the claimant dies and, assuming the claimant's death is unrelated to the Michigan auto accident, there is no recovery for any period following his death.

Again, work loss benefits end three years after the date of the Michigan automobile accident.

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