Lost Wages and Lost Earning Capacity in New Hampshire Claims

Two Different Things

Lost wages are the income you've already missed because of your injury. Lost earning capacity is the broader, often larger loss: the reduction in your ability to earn over your lifetime if the injury permanently limits what work you can do. Both are recoverable in New Hampshire.

Proving Lost Wages

Documenting lost wages involves pay records, employer statements, and proof of the time you missed. For self-employed people, it can require tax returns and business records to show the income the injury cost you.

Proving Lost Earning Capacity

Lost earning capacity is more complex. It often requires vocational experts to assess how the injury limits your work options and economists to project the lifetime financial impact. A back injury that forces a laborer into lower-paying work, for example, can represent a major loss even if they eventually return to some employment.

Capturing the Full Loss

Insurers often focus only on immediate lost wages and ignore long-term earning capacity. Making sure both are documented and valued is essential to full compensation — and is one of the clearest reasons to have experienced representation in a serious case.