Suffering an injury in an accident can throw your entire life off track. If you're self-employed, the financial disruption can be even more stressful. You don’t have an employer who automatically tracks your hours or provides you with pay stubs to document income. But just because you work for yourself doesn’t mean you have to eat the cost of missed work after an accident.
In Kentucky, personal injury law allows injured individuals—whether traditionally employed or self-employed—to recover lost income when someone else's negligence causes harm. If you’ve been injured and your ability to earn a living has been impacted, you can pursue compensation. The key is showing what you lost and proving it clearly.
Here’s how that works if you’re self-employed in Kentucky.
What Counts as Lost Wages for the Self-Employed?
Lost wages for a self-employed person can include much more than just missed billable hours. Depending on your profession, your claim may include:
- Missed client work or projects
- Canceled appointments or speaking engagements
- Lost business opportunities
- Revenue from gigs, performances, or sales
- Any ongoing contracts or freelance jobs you had to forfeit
The law recognizes that self-employed people often have irregular income. That doesn’t make it any less real—or less recoverable.
What You’ll Need to Prove Lost Income
Unlike hourly or salaried employees, you’ll need to put in a bit more effort to document your income and losses. To strengthen your claim, you should gather:
1. Tax Returns
Your past tax filings (typically 2–3 years) can show your average income and help establish your earnings before the accident. This is often the most straightforward and persuasive documentation.
2. Invoices and Receipts
If you use accounting software or manually track payments, gather any invoices, receipts, and payment confirmations from clients. This helps build a timeline of missed or delayed work.
3. Contracts or Letters of Engagement
Were you booked for future work that had to be canceled because of your injury? Written contracts or confirmation emails from clients can help prove that you lost out on income.
4. Profit and Loss Statements
Whether you use QuickBooks, Excel, or another tool, a clear P&L statement showing trends before and after the injury can be valuable. It helps show how the injury disrupted your regular cash flow.
5. Statements from Clients or Vendors
If you're on good terms with your clients or collaborators, ask if they’ll provide a short statement confirming how the injury affected your ability to deliver work.
Kentucky Law and Personal Injury Compensation
Under Kentucky law, you have the right to pursue compensation if you were injured due to someone else's negligence. This includes not only medical bills and pain and suffering, but also financial losses like lost income.
Kentucky follows a “pure comparative fault” system. That means even if you were partially at fault for the accident, you may still be able to recover compensation. Your recovery will simply be reduced by your percentage of fault.
Statute of Limitations
Kentucky has a strict one-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims. That means you have one year from the date of your accident to file a lawsuit. If you wait too long, you may lose your chance to recover any compensation—including lost income.
What If Your Income Fluctuates Seasonally?
Many self-employed people don’t earn a consistent paycheck each week. You might make most of your income during certain months or have long periods between payments. That’s okay.
A good KY employment law attorney will help demonstrate your average earnings based on multiple years of records and seasonal trends. They may also work with a forensic accountant or economic expert to project what your income likely would have been if not for the injury.
Don’t Forget About Future Losses
If your injuries are long-term and continue to impact your ability to work, you may also be able to recover compensation for future lost earnings. For example, if you can only return part-time or can’t perform physically demanding tasks anymore, your earning potential could be significantly reduced. That’s a valid part of your claim.
Call Brandon J. Broderick For Legal Help
Claiming lost wages as a self-employed person isn’t always easy—but it’s absolutely possible with the right approach and legal support. At Brandon J. Broderick, Attorney at Law, we understand the unique challenges self-employed professionals face after an injury.
If you’ve been injured in Kentucky and need help recovering lost wages, contact our team today for a free consultation.