Americans injured because of another person's actions or negligence are allowed by law to file legal claims for compensation including personal injury claims, premises liability claims, product defect claims and third party liability claims, among others. Depending on the situation appropriate compensation may include covering related medical expenses, out-of-pocket travel expenses, psychological or mental health counseling costs, property damage costs and the loss of earnings due to time spent unable to work for the future compromise and the victims ability to earn caused by their injury.

Compensation given for damages due to an injury optimally places the victim back in the financial position they were in before the accident occurred. Many people who have been injured are unable to work for short time as a result of their accidents and compensation may cover their lost wages for that time. Some have the misfortune of permanently losing their job as a result of their trauma and a may be able to claim their lost earnings from the past as well as future income and benefits. Others, though rare, may be able to claim financial recompense for their injury causing them to lose their ability to be promoted or obtain other work in the career field they were established in before their accident.

When a claims adjuster or judge considers the loss of income claim they take into account the victims likelihood of future unemployment, the possibility that the claimant may have stopped working because of prior conditions, other pre-existing health conditions for which the claimant suffers, the particular nature and scope of the injury-caused disabilities and the claimants age, education level and career achievements.

Those who are self-employed are still eligible to file loss of earnings claims for compensation but all people untrained in law, regardless of their employment situation should retain the services of a lawyer appropriately experienced and loss of earning claims.

To receive compensation for lost earnings, the injury victim, in tandem with their attorney, must first tally the total of income already lost. To do this the simplest method is to calculate one's average salary in the months prior to the incident and any bonuses that may have received if there had not been an injury. Those due for a wage increase that lost that opportunity after they were injured should include the lost pay rise in these initial calculations.

More complicated it is calculating loss of future earnings, although it is easier to determine in cases when the injured party sustained severe enough injuries for permanent disability. Others who were forced by their compromised physical capacities to work in a different field or position for less pay can also receive compensation for future loss of earnings with the help of their lawyer.