Car Accident Lost Wages Claims in Indiana

Car Accident Lost Wages Claims in Indiana

A nurse in Indianapolis loses three months of shifts after a rear-end collision fractures her wrist. A self-employed contractor in Fort Wayne watches his install business evaporate during six weeks of recovery from a T-bone crash. A warehouse supervisor in Evansville returns to work on light duty at half pay while her back heals. All three face the same challenge: replacing income that disappeared the moment metal met metal.

Lost wages represent one of the largest categories of economic damages in Indiana injury claims, yet many accident victims underestimate what they can recover or fail to document their losses properly. The result: settlements that cover medical bills but leave financial gaps that persist long after physical healing.

What Qualifies as Lost Wages in Indiana Accident Claims

Indiana law allows injured parties to recover any income they would have earned but for the defendant's negligence. That includes far more than your base salary.

Regular Earnings and Overtime

Your claim starts with wages you would have earned during recovery. If you typically work 50 hours weekly with 10 hours of overtime, your lost-wage calculation should reflect that full schedule—not just your base 40 hours. Insurers often try to value claims using base pay alone, ignoring consistent overtime patterns that Indiana courts recognize as compensable.

For salaried employees, the math appears simpler: divide annual salary by pay periods. But complications arise when you've missed partial weeks or returned to modified duty. Your employer's payroll records become critical evidence here.

Benefits and Non-Wage Compensation

Your total compensation package extends beyond your paycheck:

• Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums (the portion your employer pays)
• 401(k) matching contributions you couldn't receive while not working
• Paid time off accrual you would have banked
• Performance bonuses tied to hours worked or sales completed
• Commission structures you couldn't pursue during recovery
• Pension accrual interrupted by unpaid leave

A 2022 Bureau of Labor Statistics survey found that benefits average 29.6% of total compensation for civilian workers. Ignoring this component means leaving nearly one-third of your lost earnings on the table.

Self-Employment and Business Income

Self-employed Hoosiers face unique documentation challenges. You cannot simply multiply days missed by an hourly rate. Instead, you must prove:

1. Historical earning patterns through tax returns, profit-and-loss statements, and bank records
2. Lost opportunities such as canceled contracts, postponed projects, or clients who moved to competitors
3. Additional expenses like hiring replacement labor or paying subcontractors to fulfill existing commitments
4. Seasonal variations if your income fluctuates throughout the year

A landscaper injured in May—peak season—suffers greater lost income than the same injury in January. Your documentation must reflect these realities.

How Indiana Courts Calculate Lost Earning Capacity

When injuries create permanent limitations, you may recover not just past wages but future earning capacity—what you would have earned over your remaining work life.

The Vocational Expert's Role

Complex claims often require vocational rehabilitation experts who evaluate:

• Your education, skills, and work history
• Physical limitations documented by treating physicians
• The labor market in your geographic area
• Occupations you can still perform given your restrictions
• The wage differential between your former and available positions

A machinist who can no longer stand for full shifts might qualify only for sedentary work paying $15 hourly instead of his former $28. Over 20 remaining work years, that $13 gap represents over $540,000 in lost future earnings before present-value adjustments.

Present Value and Life Expectancy Tables

Indiana courts discount future lost wages to present value—the lump sum that, if invested today, would replace future income streams. This calculation considers:

• Your age and life expectancy per actuarial tables
• Expected retirement age for your occupation
• Inflation and wage-growth projections
• Investment return assumptions

These calculations require expert testimony. Insurers invariably hire their own economists who use conservative assumptions to minimize present value. Your attorney must counter with credible experts using reasonable projections.

Proving Lost Wages: Documentation That Survives Scrutiny

Insurers deny or reduce lost-wage claims when documentation has gaps. Build your case with these elements.

Employment Verification Letters

Request a letter from your employer's HR department on company letterhead stating:

• Your hire date and job title
• Your hourly rate or annual salary
• Your typical work schedule, including regular overtime
• Benefits you receive and their value
• Dates you missed work due to injuries
• Whether you returned to modified duty and at what capacity

This letter should come from someone with signature authority—an HR director or company officer, not a supervisor without documentation access.

Pay Stubs and W-2s

Gather pay stubs covering at least the 12 months before your accident. These establish your earnings pattern and prove overtime consistency. For claims extending into a new tax year, add your most recent W-2.

Self-employed claimants need:

• Federal tax returns (complete with all schedules) for the past three years
• Quarterly profit-and-loss statements
• Business bank statements showing deposit patterns
• 1099 forms from clients
• Contracts or invoices demonstrating lost opportunities

Medical Documentation Linking Injuries to Work Restrictions

Your physician must explicitly state that injuries prevented you from working. Generic notes saying "follow up in two weeks" don't suffice. You need documentation that says:

• "Patient is unable to perform job duties as a delivery driver due to back injury sustained in motor vehicle collision on [date]"
• "Patient may return to sedentary work only, maximum 4 hours daily, beginning [date]"
• "Patient remains off work until orthopedic re-evaluation on [date]"

These statements create the causal link between the accident and your lost income—a connection insurers often challenge.

The Lost Wage Affidavit Trap

Many insurers send pre-printed lost-wage forms asking you to calculate your own losses. Be cautious: these forms often:

• Limit claims to base wages, excluding overtime and benefits
• Require you to release all employment records to the insurer
• Include language releasing claims or admitting fault
• Use calculation methods that undervalue legitimate losses

Have an attorney review any form before signing. You may be better served submitting employer-generated documentation instead of insurer-provided templates.

How Insurance Companies Value and Challenge Lost Wage Claims

Understanding insurer tactics helps you anticipate and counter their arguments.

The Modified Comparative Fault Hurdle

Indiana Code 34-51-2-6 bars recovery if you are 51% or more at fault for the accident. If the insurer assigns you 60% fault, you recover nothing—regardless of how well you documented lost wages. Even at 40% fault, your recovery drops by 40%.

This reality makes liability disputes more valuable than damage disputes. An adjuster who can't defeat liability will attack fault percentage to reduce all damages proportionally.

Mitigation Arguments

Insurers frequently argue that you failed to mitigate damages—that you could have returned to work sooner or accepted modified duty your physician approved. Indiana law requires reasonable mitigation efforts, but "reasonable" depends on:

• Your physician's actual restrictions, not the insurer's interpretation
• Whether your employer offered suitable modified work
• Whether accepting modified duty would have jeopardized your recovery

A warehouse worker cleared for "sedentary work only" need not accept a cashier position at minimum wage when his employer offers no sedentary roles. That's not failure to mitigate; it's reality.

The Disability-Payment Offset

If you received short-term disability, workers' compensation, or unemployment benefits during recovery, insurers will offset those payments against lost-wage claims. The logic: you cannot recover the same lost income twice.

Document every dollar you received from collateral sources. Your attorney must account for these offsets when calculating demand amounts, or insurers will reduce settlements after the fact.

Surveillance and Social Media Mining

Adjusters routinely review claimants' social media profiles looking for posts that contradict disability claims. A photo of you at your child's baseball game while you're supposedly bedridden becomes "evidence" you exaggerated injuries.

Similarly, insurers may hire investigators to film you performing activities that appear inconsistent with claimed restrictions. Taking your trash to the curb doesn't prove you can return to roofing work, but insurers will present that narrative.

Set social media to private. Don't post anything related to your accident, injuries, or activities during recovery. Assume anything you post will appear in settlement negotiations.

Special Situations That Complicate Lost Wage Recovery

Some employment scenarios create unique challenges in proving and recovering lost income.

Seasonal and Variable-Income Workers

Farm workers, ski instructors, tax preparers, and others with seasonal income must prove what they would have earned during the affected season. Use:

• Prior-year earnings during the same months
• Employer letters confirming your scheduled shifts or anticipated hours
• Contracts or work orders you couldn't fulfill

A tax preparer injured in March—peak filing season—cannot use his July income as the baseline. Documentation must reflect the high-earning period the injury affected.

Workers Receiving Cash Payments

Construction laborers, restaurant servers, and other cash-paid workers often cannot fully document income through tax returns. While Indiana courts won't help you recover income you didn't report to the IRS, you can still prove:

• Documented tips that appear on W-2s
• Cash payments corroborated by employer records or co-worker testimony
• A pattern of consistent work even if exact amounts are disputed

Expect intense scrutiny from insurers who assume cash-income claims are inflated.

Multiple-Job Holders

If you worked two or three jobs when injured, you can claim lost income from all positions—but you must document each separately. Insurers often pay for primary-job losses while disputing that you would have maintained secondary employment.

Gather records from every employer. Show that you consistently worked multiple jobs before the accident. If you quit a second job immediately before the crash, expect the insurer to exclude that income from calculations.

Workers Who Were Terminated or Laid Off Post-Accident

What happens if your employer terminates you while you're recovering, claiming business reasons unrelated to your injury? Your lost-wage claim doesn't automatically end, but it becomes far more complex.

You must prove you would have remained employed but for the accident—difficult when your employer cites performance issues, downsizing, or other "legitimate" reasons. These cases often require wrongful-termination analysis alongside the injury claim.

Interaction Between Lost Wages and Other Damage Categories

Lost income interacts with other compensable damages in ways that affect settlement strategy.

Medical Bills and Lost Wages: The Subrogation Web

If your health insurer paid medical bills related to the accident, they typically have subrogation rights—the legal right to recover their payments from your settlement. Some health plans also claim portions of lost-wage recovery, arguing that their premium payments kept you insured while you couldn't work.

Indiana follows the "made whole" doctrine in some contexts: you must be fully compensated before subrogation claims apply. But many ERISA-governed health plans override state law, creating complex negotiations about who gets paid from limited settlement funds.

Tax Implications of Lost Wage Recovery

Lost wage settlements are taxable income under federal law—you're receiving money that replaces taxable earnings. In contrast, compensation for physical injuries and medical expenses is tax-free.

Structure matters: if your settlement allocates $50,000 to lost wages and $50,000 to pain and suffering, you'll owe tax on the lost-wage portion. Some attorneys negotiate higher pain-and-suffering allocations to minimize tax burden, though IRS rules limit this strategy when documentation clearly shows wage losses.

Consult a tax professional before finalizing any settlement that includes substantial lost-wage components.

How Long You Have to Pursue Lost Wage Claims in Indiana

Indiana Code 34-11-2-4 sets a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims arising from Car Accidents. That deadline applies to all damages, including lost wages.

Critically, the clock starts running on the accident date—not when you finish medical treatment or return to work. If you were injured on March 15, 2023, you must file suit by March 15, 2025, or you lose the right to recover anything, including lost income still accruing.

The Continuing-Treatment Exception Doesn't Apply to Limitations

Some plaintiffs mistakenly believe that ongoing medical care extends the filing deadline. It doesn't. Indiana courts strictly enforce the two-year window for auto accident claims regardless of treatment duration.

If you're still on modified duty or haven't returned to work when the two-year mark approaches, you must file suit to preserve your claim for future lost wages—even if total damages remain uncertain.

Claims Against Government Entities Have Shorter Deadlines

If a city bus, county vehicle, or state employee caused your crash, Indiana's Tort Claims Act imposes notice requirements before you can sue:

• 180 days to provide written notice to a political subdivision (city, county, school district)
• 270 days to notify the State of Indiana

These deadlines are even more strictly enforced than the general statute of limitations. Miss the notice window by one day and your claim dies, regardless of its merits.

Maximizing Lost Wage Recovery: Strategic Considerations

Experienced attorneys use specific approaches to strengthen lost-income claims.

Front-Load Documentation

Don't wait until settlement negotiations to gather employment records. Request documentation immediately:

• The week after your accident, ask your employer for a verification letter
• Collect pay stubs monthly rather than scrambling for a year's worth later
• Request updated medical restrictions in writing at each appointment

Proactive documentation signals to insurers that you're serious about full compensation. It also prevents disputes about what you earned or when you could have returned—the employer's contemporaneous records are harder to challenge than your later recollections.

Calculate Gross, Not Net

You're entitled to recover gross lost wages—your earnings before taxes, not your take-home pay. Insurers sometimes offer "net" calculations that deduct income tax, Social Security, and Medicare withholding.

Reject this approach. You'll pay tax on the settlement's lost-wage portion, so calculating from net would effectively tax you twice on the same income.

Include Raises and Promotions You Missed

If you were scheduled for a promotion, annual raise, or performance bonus before the accident, document it and include those increased earnings in your claim. You'll need:

• Employer testimony about promotion timelines
• Company policies on annual raises
• Performance reviews showing you were on track for advancement
• Historical patterns of bonuses or merit increases

These claims face skepticism, so documentation must be airtight. A letter confirming you were being considered for promotion differs from one confirming you had been selected.

Demand Future Wage Loss Even in "Minor" Injury Cases

Permanent restrictions aren't limited to catastrophic injuries. A lumbar strain that leaves you unable to lift more than 20 pounds permanently affects earning capacity if you're a plumber, mover, or nurse. Insurers will call this a "minor soft-tissue injury," but if it forces a career change, it's a major economic loss.

Don't let injury-severity labels minimize legitimate wage-loss claims. Focus on functional capacity: what can you no longer do, and how does that affect your employability?

Common Mistakes That Reduce Lost Wage Settlements

Avoid these errors that routinely cost claimants thousands in recovery.

Returning to Work Without Medical Clearance

Going back to work before your physician releases you—even if you feel ready—gives insurers ammunition to argue you weren't as injured as claimed. If you return and re-injure yourself, they'll blame your premature return, not the original accident.

Wait for explicit medical clearance. If financial pressure forces an early return, get a partial-release letter documenting your restrictions and noting that full-duty work remains inadvisable.

Failing to Track Sick Leave and PTO Usage

Many injured workers use accrued sick leave or paid time off during recovery, then forget to claim those days as lost wages. Here's why they matter: you depleted a benefit you would otherwise have retained. That's an economic loss even though you received regular paychecks.

Document every PTO or sick day you used for accident-related recovery. These days represent lost future time off—a quantifiable damage.

Accepting Insurer Wage-Loss Calculations Without Verification

When an adjuster says, "We calculated your lost wages at $4,200," ask for the breakdown. Verify:

• The hourly rate or salary they used
• How many days or hours they counted
• Whether they included overtime, benefits, and bonuses
• What offsets they applied

Insurers make "mistakes" that always favor their bottom line. Catch them early or you'll negotiate from an artificially low baseline.

Settling Before Understanding Long-Term Earning Impact

Once you settle and sign a release, you cannot reopen the claim if you later discover permanent work restrictions. If you settle six weeks post-accident and learn four months later that you'll never return to your trade, that future wage loss goes uncompensated.

Don't settle until you reach maximum medical improvement—the point where your condition has stabilized and doctors can predict your long-term functional capacity.

When to Involve an Attorney in Lost Wage Claims

Most injury victims can handle minor property-damage claims alone. Lost wage claims are different.

Consider representation when:

• You missed more than two weeks of work
• You're self-employed or have variable income
• You have permanent restrictions affecting future earning capacity
• The insurer disputes liability or your fault percentage
• You received disability benefits or workers' comp that will be offset
• Your employer can't or won't provide documentation
• The insurer has already made a settlement offer (you need to know if it's fair)

Attorneys who regularly handle Car Accidents in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville, and South Bend understand local wage markets, know which vocational experts insurers respect, and can counter the sophisticated tactics adjusters use to minimize lost-income claims.

Key Takeaways

• Lost wages extend beyond base pay: include overtime, benefits, bonuses, PTO accrual, and employer-paid insurance premiums in your claim calculation
• Self-employment requires meticulous documentation: tax returns alone won't prove your losses; you need contracts, invoices, and bank records showing lost opportunities
• Future earning capacity is recoverable: permanent restrictions that force career changes or reduced hours create losses extending decades into the future
• Indiana's comparative fault system reduces recovery: even if you're 20% at fault, your lost-wage recovery drops by 20%, making liability defense critical
• Front-load documentation: gather employer letters, pay stubs, and medical restrictions immediately rather than scrambling months later when memories have faded and records are harder to retrieve
• Settlements are final: don't settle until you understand your long-term earning capacity; you cannot reopen a claim after signing a release
• The two-year deadline is absolute: Indiana Code 34-11-2-4 gives you two years from the crash date to file suit, regardless of ongoing treatment or uncertain damages

Talk to an Indiana Injury Attorney About Your Lost Income Claim

Recovering from serious injuries is hard enough without the financial stress of lost paychecks, depleted savings, and mounting bills. You deserve full compensation for every dollar the accident cost you—not just what an insurance adjuster finds convenient to pay.

IndianaAccidentAid.com connects injured Hoosiers with experienced personal injury attorneys who understand how to document, value, and fight for maximum lost-wage recovery. Whether you're a salaried employee in Carmel who missed three months of work, a commissioned salesperson in Bloomington watching your income vanish, or a self-employed contractor in Lafayette whose business suffered during recovery, we'll match you with an attorney who has handled cases like yours.

Our referral service is free. We don't collect fees or percentages—we simply connect you with qualified attorneys who can evaluate your case and explain your options. Most injury attorneys work on contingency, meaning you pay nothing unless they recover compensation for you.

Get matched with an Indiana injury attorney today and find out what your lost wage claim is really worth.

Frequently Asked Questions About Indiana Lost Wage Claims

How long do I have to file a lost wage claim after a car accident in Indiana?

Indiana Code 34-11-2-4 imposes a two-year statute of limitations on personal injury claims arising from auto accidents, including all lost wage components. The clock starts on your accident date, not when you return to work or finish treatment. If you were injured on June 1, 2023, you must file a lawsuit by June 1, 2025, or lose the right to recover any damages. Claims against government entities face even shorter notice deadlines—180 days for cities and counties, 270 days for state agencies. Miss these windows and your claim dies regardless of its strength. If you're still on modified duty or haven't returned to work as the two-year mark approaches, you must file suit to preserve claims for future lost income.

Can I claim lost wages if I'm self-employed or own my own business?

Absolutely, though documentation requirements are more demanding than for W-2 employees. You must prove your earning history through federal tax returns for the past three years, quarterly profit-and-loss statements, business bank statements showing deposit patterns, and 1099 forms from clients. Beyond historical earnings, you can recover lost business opportunities—contracts you couldn't fulfill, clients who moved to competitors during your recovery, and additional expenses like hiring replacement workers or subcontractors. If your income varies seasonally, your documentation must reflect the specific earning period the injury affected. A landscaper injured during peak season in May suffers far greater losses than the same injury in January. Indiana courts recognize these variable-income losses, but insurers scrutinize self-employment claims intensely, so comprehensive financial records are essential.

What if I used sick leave or vacation time during my recovery—can I still claim lost wages?

Yes, and you should. Using accrued paid time off or sick leave represents an economic loss even though you received regular paychecks. You depleted a benefit you otherwise would have retained for future use—that's quantifiable damage. Document every PTO hour, sick day, or vacation day you used for accident-related recovery and include those days in your lost-wage claim. Many injured workers overlook this component, effectively leaving money on the table. Your employer's payroll records should show PTO usage and balance before and after your injury. Some insurers argue that since you were paid, you lost nothing, but Indiana law recognizes that consuming earned benefits constitutes economic harm. Track this usage carefully and ensure your settlement accounts for depleted leave balances.

Do I have to pay taxes on lost wage settlements in Indiana?

Yes, the IRS treats lost wage compensation as taxable income because it replaces earnings that would have been taxed. In contrast, compensation for physical injuries, medical expenses, and pain and suffering is generally tax-free under federal law. This creates settlement-structure implications: if your agreement allocates $40,000 to lost wages and $60,000 to pain and suffering, you'll owe income tax on the $40,000 portion. Some attorneys negotiate higher pain-and-suffering allocations to minimize tax exposure, though IRS rules limit this strategy when documentation clearly demonstrates wage losses. Additionally, you'll receive a 1099 form for taxable settlement portions, and you must report that income on your tax return. Consult a tax professional before finalizing any settlement with substantial lost-wage components to understand your actual after-tax recovery and plan accordingly.

Can I recover future lost wages if I haven't returned to full duty yet?

Yes, Indiana law allows recovery for lost future earning capacity when injuries create permanent restrictions affecting your ability to work. If medical evidence shows you cannot return to your former occupation or can only work reduced hours permanently, you can claim the present value of those future earnings. These claims typically require vocational rehabilitation experts who evaluate your skills, education, work history, physical limitations, and available job opportunities in your area. An economic expert then calculates the present value—the lump sum that, if invested today, would replace your future income stream. For example, a machinist who can no longer perform standing work might only qualify for sedentary positions paying significantly less; that wage differential over remaining work years represents recoverable damages. These calculations are complex and heavily contested, so expert testimony is essential. Don't settle until you reach maximum medical improvement and understand your long-term functional capacity.

What happens if I was partially at fault for the accident—can I still claim lost wages?

You can recover reduced lost wages if you were less than 51% at fault. Indiana Code 34-51-2-6 establishes a modified comparative fault system: if you're 51% or more responsible for the crash, you recover nothing. If you're 50% or less at fault, your recovery is reduced by your fault percentage. For example, if your total lost wages equal $30,000 and you're found 30% at fault, you'll recover $21,000 (70% of your losses). This reality makes liability disputes more valuable than damage disputes—an insurer who can't defeat liability entirely will attack fault allocation to reduce all damages proportionally. Even minor fault findings significantly impact recovery. If an adjuster suggests you share blame, don't accept that characterization without consulting an attorney. Fault determinations involve complex legal standards, witness credibility assessments, and often accident reconstruction analysis. What seems like shared fault to a layperson may be clear liability once properly investigated.

Will disability payments or unemployment benefits reduce my lost wage claim?

Yes, insurers will offset these collateral-source payments against lost-wage claims to prevent double recovery for the same lost income. If you received $5,000 in short-term disability benefits and claim $15,000 in lost wages, the insurer will argue you lost only $10,000 net. The same applies to unemployment compensation, workers' compensation temporary total disability payments, and sometimes even Social Security disability benefits depending on the benefit structure. This is why meticulous documentation matters: you must track every dollar received from alternative sources so your attorney can calculate accurate net losses and demand appropriate total compensation. Some benefits create subrogation liens, meaning the benefit provider can recover their payments from your settlement. This creates complex negotiations about how limited settlement funds are distributed among multiple claimants. An experienced attorney will identify all offset and subrogation issues early, ensuring your demand accounts for these reductions rather than discovering them after settlement.

How do insurance companies verify lost wage claims?

Insurers use multiple verification methods to confirm claimed losses and identify potential exaggerations. They'll request employment verification letters directly from your employer, ask for pay stubs and tax returns, review your documented work history, and cross-reference your claimed income against public records and social media profiles. Many send investigators to conduct surveillance, filming your activities to catch inconsistencies between claimed restrictions and observed behavior. They mine social media extensively—a Facebook post showing you at a concert while claiming you're bedridden becomes "evidence" of exaggeration. For self-employed claimants, insurers demand complete tax returns with all schedules, business bank statements, profit-and-loss statements, and often conduct background checks on your business to verify its legitimacy. They'll compare your claimed pre-accident income against what you reported to the IRS, assuming any discrepancy means fraud. This scrutiny underscores why documentation must be complete, consistent, and contemporaneous. Set social media to private, don't discuss your case online, and assume everything you do during recovery may be photographed and presented out of context.

Should I accept the insurance company's first settlement offer for lost wages?

Rarely. Initial offers almost always undervalue claims—it's standard negotiation strategy. Insurers make low opening offers hoping you'll accept out of financial desperation or ignorance about your claim's true value. These first offers typically cover only base wages, ignore overtime and benefits, fail to account for future earning capacity, and may not reflect all the time you'll miss from work if you're still treating. Before accepting any settlement, verify the adjuster's calculations, ensure all wage components are included, confirm they've accounted for every missed workday, understand whether the offer includes future lost earning capacity, and have the offer reviewed by an attorney who handles injury claims regularly. Remember, once you sign a release, the claim is closed permanently—you cannot reopen it if you discover later that you needed more time off work or developed permanent restrictions. Most experienced injury attorneys offer free case evaluations and can quickly tell you whether an offer is fair or whether you should counter-demand.

What documentation do I need to prove lost wages from a car accident?

Comprehensive documentation is essential for maximum recovery. Gather an employment verification letter from your HR department on company letterhead stating your hire date, job title, wage or salary, typical work schedule including regular overtime, benefits and their value, dates missed due to injuries, and any modified-duty arrangements. Collect pay stubs for at least 12 months before the accident to establish earning patterns, plus your most recent W-2 and tax return. Obtain medical documentation explicitly linking your injuries to work restrictions—notes that specifically state you cannot perform job duties because of accident injuries, not generic "follow up" instructions. Track all sick leave, PTO, and vacation days used during recovery. Self-employed claimants need federal tax returns for three years, quarterly profit-and-loss statements, business bank statements, 1099 forms, and documentation of lost contracts or opportunities. If you have permanent restrictions, secure vocational expert evaluations and treating-physician opinions about your long-term functional capacity. Front-load this documentation—gather it immediately rather than waiting until settlement negotiations when memories fade and records become harder to retrieve.