LEGAL Q&A

This information is provided by Stephen Hattersley, of WildWood Legal, a firm of solicitors specialising in claims for injured scooterists. Stephen, a qualified solicitor for 25 years, has been riding scooters for more than 30 years, and has acted for injured riders across the UK. He knows the tricks and pitfalls that insurers use and pulls no punches in his dealings with them. He rides to work every day and understands the challenges you face out there.

Q. I’m self-employed. Can I claim my lost income during the time I was unable to work after my accident?

A. The short answer is yes, you can. Couple of pointers though. First of all, in the real world, some self-employed people’s

accounts may give a certain set of figures whereas they actually earn quite a bit more. What we can’t do is try and recover lost income for you based on a higher figure than you are declaring in your accounts and to HMRC. To do that could land you in serious trouble as the

judge could choose to refer you to HMRC for investigation – not something you would want at all.

Secondly, it can be fiddlier to do the calculations for a selfemployed client when compared with someone earning a salary. We sometimes need input from

an accountant as well as your accounts going back a few years but we get there in the end.

If you need advice on a scooter-related legal question, email stephen@wildwoodlegal. co.uk – the best Q & A will be published in Scootering magazine in confidence.