Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 6/14/2010

Question
I was rear-ended in my personal work van and the van has been totaled.  I've been working on getting loss of work time covered due to taking time off of work to deal with all the issues involved, including time to apply for loans on another van, picking up another van.  It also to me 1 day to transfer my material and tools from the van to a temporary van supplied by an employer, and then to the permanent van another 2 days.  In all 1 1/2 weeks in all till this time.  Am I wrong expecting to be reimbursed for this time (there was loss of time due to injury).  Also is there a time limit as to when it has to be settled by, it's coming up on being a year since the accident.

Answer
Hi Sam,

You are able to claim all of those things, however you must be able to prove the time as well as any lost wages as a result. You may need to get letters from your employer stating they since you did not work on a particular day that you lost $XX.XX . The insurance company will call the employer to verify this.

The only limt on reaching a settlement is the statute of limitations. In Oregon the limitation is 2 years from the date of the accident. If it starts to get close to that time and there is  no settlement in sight, then you should seek the advice of an attorney.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh