Legal Question in Insurance Law in Georgia

Lost wage calculations

My husband was involved in an automobile accident in Georgia in which he sustained personal injury. Because I am in the business, I have been attempting to settle this loss myself. My husband works as an automotive painter and his pay is straight commision. Generally, I would obtain an average based on W2 information as his checks change from week-to-week. The adverse carrier in this case is taking the 4 paychecks he received on his job and used it to come up with an average wage claim for 10 months of disability. Our W2's from the last 2 years support a salary amount of almost twice this. How can I provide additional wage supports as proof of lost income and how close to statute of limitations should I allow this claim to come prior to retaining an attorney to file suit and preserve the statute? Thank you.


Asked on 2/03/03, 4:07 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Ronald Arthur Lowry Ronald Arthur Lowry

Re: Lost wage calculations

First,I think you are already being jerked around by the liability insurer.Who is it? Some are worse than others.If it is one of the really bad ones no matter what you supply it will never be enough.They will run you around until your tongue is out and never change their collective insurance co. mind.You might as well go hire a lawyer now as the sooner you do the faster this will be resolved.Second,so many people wait too long to hire a lawyer and file suit it is frightening.There are plenty of stories out there about people who were strung along by an insurer and the case was damaged as a result. Witnesses get out of pocket,evidence gets stale,the injured person gets flat broke and has to settle for peanuts- there are just so many ways for a case to get screwed up by delay.The one I am hearing about a lot these days is the defendant moves and cannot be found.In GA (and most if not all states) you have to personally serve the defendant (not the insurer)with the complaint filed in court.If you don't your case gets tossed by the judge.When the defendant moves the insurer will not tell you where he is and uses this to its advantage to beat you down or stiff you entirely.DON'T WAIT.You will be sorry if you do.

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Answered on 2/04/03, 2:20 pm


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