Yes, if a truck accident in Alberta has left you with injuries that affect your ability to work, you can make a claim for the income you will lose in the future. It’s a legal concept that recognizes your career has value, and if that has been diminished or taken away, you are entitled to compensation.
Alberta’s legal system treats your earning capacity like a valuable asset, similar to a house or business. When a truck destroys that asset, Alberta law recognizes that. But here’s the catch: proving what you would have earned over the next three decades requires forensic-level documentation and expert analysis. This complexity discourages claims, leaving billions in rightful compensation uncollected.
An experienced Edmonton Truck Accident Lawyer at MNH Injury Lawyers understands the long-term impact these cases have on your life and future. If you’re worried about your financial future after a truck injury, the team at MNH Injury Lawyers is here to help. Call us at (888) 664-5298 for a clear explanation of your rights.
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What Are “Future Lost Earnings,” Really?
This isn’t about the paycheques you’ve already missed. That’s a separate category called past income loss. Instead, a claim for future lost earnings—or “loss of earning capacity”—is about compensating you for the loss of a valuable asset: your ability to earn an income for the rest of your working life. The courts treat this loss as a loss of a capital asset.
The key distinction is that this is compensation for the reduction in your ability to earn, even if you are still able to work in some capacity. The core question is what you likely would have earned compared to what you will now be able to earn. This applies whether your injuries prevent you from returning to work at all, or force you into a role with reduced hours or responsibilities.
Immediate Support vs. Long-Term Security: Two Paths to Income Replacement
After a truck accident, your financial needs are split into two categories: the immediate and the long-term. Alberta’s system provides two different ways to address this, ensuring there is a buffer for initial hardship and a comprehensive solution for your future.
Part 1: The Immediate Cushion – Section B Accident Benefits
Every auto insurance policy in Alberta includes mandatory “no-fault” benefits, known as Section B benefits. These are designed to provide immediate support, regardless of who caused the accident. In simple terms, you are eligible for these benefits even if you were responsible for the collision. They are a mandatory part of the Standard Automobile Policy (S.P.F. No. 1) used across the province.
If your injuries prevent you from working, Section B provides disability benefits. Here are the specifics:
- Payment Details: These benefits cover 80% of your gross weekly earnings, up to a maximum of $600 per week.
- Waiting Period: It is important to know that there is a 7-day waiting period; benefits are not paid for the first week of disability.
To be eligible, you must have been employed for at least six of the twelve months preceding the accident. Think of Section B as the emergency fund. It’s there to help with the immediate financial pressure while you recover, but it is a temporary solution with limits, typically lasting for up to two years.
Part 2: The Full Picture – A Claim for Future Earnings
For serious injuries, particularly from a commercial truck accident which can result in life-altering conditions like brain or spinal cord damage, Section B benefits are not enough to cover the full extent of your lost income over a lifetime. T
This is where a separate legal claim against the at-fault driver’s insurance comes in. This is sometimes called a “tort claim.” It is designed to bridge the gap between what Section B provides and what you have truly lost, including your full future earning potential. This claim addresses the complete financial picture, from lost promotions to the inability to continue in your chosen career.
How Do We Prove What You Would Have Earned?
Predicting the future with certainty is impossible. However, in a legal claim, the goal is to create a realistic and evidence-based projection of your financial future had the accident never happened. We piece together the story of your professional life to show what it was worth and where it was headed.
Building the Case: The Narrative of Your Career
To establish your claim, we start by gathering concrete evidence that tells the story of your work life. This foundation is built on documents that create a clear picture of your earnings and career trajectory before the injury. These typically include:
- Employment records and pay stubs.
- Income tax returns from previous years.
- Letters from your employer confirming your role, salary, performance, and potential for advancement.
This documentation helps establish a baseline of what your income was and what it was likely to become.
The Experts: Telling the Rest of the Story
For serious injuries that have a long-term impact on your ability to work, we rely on independent professionals to provide objective, expert opinions. Their analysis helps translate your personal loss into financial terms that the legal system can recognize.
- Vocational Experts: These professionals are trained to assess how injuries impact a person’s ability to perform their job or any other type of work. They look at your education, training, and experience to determine what jobs you may still be qualified for, what retraining might be needed, and what your physical and mental limitations mean for your future employment. Their evaluation helps define your new reality in the labour market.
- Economists: An economist takes the information from you and the vocational expert to calculate the precise financial value of your loss over your entire expected working life. They are specialists in evaluating the monetary effects of injuries and presenting them clearly. They factor in complex variables like inflation, lost opportunities for promotion, and the value of lost pensions or benefits to arrive at a comprehensive figure.
What if My Injury is Considered “Minor”? The Role of the MIR
You may have heard about a “cap” on injury claims in Alberta. This refers to a law called the Minor Injury Regulation (MIR). This regulation limits the amount of money you can receive for pain and suffering for certain injuries like minor sprains, strains, and some whiplash-associated disorders (WAD).
A Crucial Distinction
The single most important thing to understand is that the Minor Injury Regulation does not cap your claim for lost income. Even if your injury falls under the MIR definition, your compensation for pain and suffering is treated entirely separately from your financial losses.
In simple terms, you can still pursue a separate and full claim for any past or future income you have lost because of the injury. The cap only applies to the non-financial part of your claim—the compensation for the pain and inconvenience itself. Therefore, your economic losses are a different category of damages altogether and are not limited by the MIR.
Why This Matters for Your Claim
Insurance companies may sometimes imply that because your injury is classified as “minor,” your entire claim is capped. This is not the case. Your financial losses, including your future lost earnings, are calculated and claimed separately from your pain and suffering damages.
The specific dollar amount for the pain and suffering cap changes each year with inflation. Because this figure is adjusted annually, instead of relying on a number that might be outdated, we can tell you the current cap and explain exactly how the MIR applies, or does not apply, to your specific situation.
The Clock is Ticking: Alberta’s Limitation Periods Could Kill Your Claim
More truck accident victims lose their right to compensation because of missed deadlines than because of weak cases.
The Two-Year Rule
In most cases, you have exactly two years from the date of your truck accident to file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver. Miss this deadline by even one day, and your claim likely dies permanently—no matter how severe your injuries or how clear the other driver’s fault.
The Discovery Rule Exception
Sometimes injuries don’t reveal their full impact immediately. A back injury from a truck collision might seem manageable for months, then suddenly require surgery two years later. Alberta law recognizes this through the “discovery rule”—your limitation period can start when you reasonably should have known the injury was serious enough to sue.
Section B vs. Tort Claims: Different Deadlines
Your Section B no-fault benefits have their own deadlines—much shorter ones:
- 30 days to notify your insurer of the accident
- 90 days to submit your AB-1 form for medical benefits
- 90 days to submit your AB-1A form for disability benefits
Missing these deadlines can cost you immediate income replacement while you pursue your larger claim. The irony is cruel: people sometimes miss Section B deadlines because they’re too injured to handle paperwork, then lose the benefits designed to help injured people.
Why This Matters for Truck Accident Victims
Truck accidents cause complex injuries that take time to fully understand. A traumatic brain injury might not show cognitive effects for months. Spinal damage might not prevent work immediately but could end a career years later. The temptation is to “wait and see” how you recover.
Don’t wait. You can file a lawsuit to preserve your rights even while hoping for full recovery. Your lawyer can always amend the claim later if your injuries prove more serious than initially apparent.
FAQ for Future Lost Earnings Claims
Yes. The calculation can be more complex, but you can claim for lost business profits or income. We will need to review financial statements, business records, and tax returns to show the business was profitable and how the injury has impacted its revenue.
You may still have a claim for loss of earning capacity. The court will look at your education, past work history, and the career path you were pursuing to determine your likely future earnings. For a student, factors like their grades and family background may be considered to project a probable career path. A lost opportunity is still a loss that deserves compensation.
Yes, any income replacement you receive from sources like Section B or other disability plans will be factored in and deducted from the final settlement for lost income. This is done to prevent “double recovery,” which is receiving compensation for the same loss twice. We handle this calculation to ensure everything is accounted for properly.
Absolutely. A claim for future loss should include all aspects of your compensation. This includes not just your base salary but also any bonuses, commissions, benefits, and the increased income you would have earned from a likely promotion that the injury prevented you from receiving.
This is a classic example of a “loss of earning capacity” claim. If your injuries force you to take a lower-paying job or switch careers, your claim would be for the difference between what you would have earned in your old, higher-paying career and what you are now able to earn in a different role. This compensates you for the loss of your more valuable earning potential.
Secure Your Financial Future with MNH Injury Lawyers
A serious injury from a truck accident doesn’t just cause physical pain; it threatens your financial stability and the future you’ve worked hard to build.
Calculating the true value of what was lost requires a careful, detailed approach and a deep understanding of how to present your story in a way the legal system recognizes. From brain and spinal cord injuries that prevent a return to work, to soft tissue damage that limits your physical capabilities, the impact on your earning power must be properly valued.
If a truck accident has injured you, let an experienced Edmonton personal injury lawyer handle the complexities of securing your compensation. The team at MNH Injury Lawyers is ready to protect your financial future.
Call us today at (888) 664-5298 to get the support you need.
