Economica’s Assessments: Information required to complete a loss of income (personal injury) assessment

We have outlined below the information that we typically require in order to complete a loss of income assessment.

• The plaintiff’s date of birth.
• The scheduled trial date, or the date that we should use as an assumed settlement date or valuation date. A settlement date is necessary to provide a point of reference for our calculations, separating the pre-trial period from the post-trial period.
• Any items that will provide us with a brief overview of the details behind the accident, the injuries, and medical treatment. Note that, as economists, we are not qualified to interpret items such as operation reports, MRI reports, and so forth. Therefore, it is not necessary to send us all of the technical medical reports which are available.
• Any available reports from vocational, cost of care, and/or household services experts.
• Any psychological or medical assessments that discuss issues relating to the plaintiff’s employability.
• The plaintiff’s income tax returns (or computer printouts provided by Revenue Canada). Ideally, we would like to have tax returns from at least the last four or five years before the accident, as well as the returns since the accident. At a minimum, we need estimates of the plaintiff’s employment income at the time of the accident and since the accident.
• If the plaintiff is working, a copy of a recent paystub would be helpful.
• Did the plaintiff receive Section B income replacement benefits after the accident? If so, how much and over what period? These are not taxable and do not appear on the income tax records.
• Did the plaintiff receive short-term disability (STD) and/or long-term disability (LTD) benefits after the accident? If so, we would like to know how much per week or month and over what period. Sometimes these are taxable and we can get the information from the income tax records, but sometimes they are not taxable, so we need to get get the information elsewhere.
• The plaintiff’s educational background.
• Information concerning the plaintiff’s employment history. Specifically, we would like to know what jobs have been held, what the wages were with each employer, whether the plaintiff was part-time or full-time, the amount of overtime worked, and so forth. Also, we would like information regarding employer-provided fringe benefits (including pension). Of course, this information is most important for the job(s) held immediately before the time of the accident, and over the time period since the accident.
• We would like information regarding what the plaintiff’s employment plans had been at the time of the accident. For example, were there plans to change jobs? Would the hours worked have increased or decreased? Were there any likely promotions in the future? Were there any plans for retirement? Any letters received from the plaintiff’s employer(s) relating to these issues would be useful.
• Similarly, we would like information regarding what the plaintiff’s employment plans (if any) are now.
• If available, please provide the Questioning transcripts, or excerpts that deal with any of the above topics.

To summarise, we require any information which relates to what the plaintiff’s career path (and income potential) would likely have been if the accident had not occurred; and what it will likely be now, given that the accident has occurred.