Quick answer
Prepare records that show the earning position before the accident, the medical or functional restriction caused by the injuries, the work change that followed and the amount actually lost. For an employee, that usually means job and payroll evidence plus absence or incapacity records. For self-employment, it means ordinary business and tax records across a meaningful before-and-after period.
How to use this guide
Keep the source documents separate from the loss schedule. A spreadsheet prepared for the claim can explain the calculation, but it should cite the records behind every figure and label estimates or assumptions clearly.
Establish the pre-accident work baseline
Start with the employment contract, job description, working hours, duty demands, pay structure and benefits. Add payslips, payroll reports, bank statements and tax returns showing the actual earnings pattern. Variable pay, overtime, commission and bonuses need a history long enough to avoid treating one unusually high or low month as normal.
Include qualifications, training, performance records and credible promotion or career evidence only where they are genuinely relevant. A future opportunity should not be presented as certain merely because it was discussed informally.
Connect absence or reduced work to the injuries
Collect medical certificates, hospital and treatment records, occupational-health material, work restrictions, rehabilitation plans and return-to-work recommendations. Then add rosters, attendance, leave records, reduced hours, changed duties and employer correspondence showing what actually happened at work.
Keep the medical opinion within its scope. A sick note may support absence for a period without proving long-term earning incapacity. Conversely, a person may return to work while performing different duties or earning less. Record both the clinical restriction and the employer’s practical response.
Reconcile what the employer paid
Ask payroll or human resources for a signed explanation of normal remuneration, dates absent, leave used, salary or benefits continued, unpaid periods and any later reduction or termination. Reconcile that statement to payslips and bank receipts.
Record sick pay, annual leave, disability or insurance benefits and other receipts rather than omitting them. Their legal treatment may differ, but advisers need the full position to prevent duplication and calculate the claimed difference accurately.
Build a self-employment record chain
For a business owner, freelancer or informal trader, gather source material created in ordinary business:
- tax returns and assessments;
- annual financial statements or management accounts;
- business bank and payment-platform records;
- invoices, quotations, bookings and signed contracts;
- recurring-customer and pipeline evidence;
- expense and staffing records; and
- cancellations or work declined because of documented restrictions.
Separate business turnover, expenses, profit and the person’s drawings or salary. A drop in deposits does not automatically equal personal income loss, and wider market or business changes must be considered.
Build a separate file for every earnings stream
A claimant may have salary, overtime, commission, freelance work, rental activity or drawings from a business. Create a section for each stream and show how it was ordinarily earned before the accident. Do not combine gross business receipts with employment income or treat an irregular deposit as recurring pay without identifying its source.
For each stream, include the payer or customer, payment basis, ordinary frequency, tax treatment shown in available records and the period affected. Reconcile the schedule to bank entries, invoices, payroll and tax records. If cash income was genuinely earned, preserve the ordinary contemporaneous evidence that exists; do not create backdated invoices or reconstructed ledgers and present them as records made at the time.
Non-cash employment benefits should be listed separately with the document establishing the benefit and what changed after the injury. A claimed value must be supportable and should not be added to cash loss without checking for duplication.
Document mitigation and attempted return to work
Keep evidence of modified duties, reduced hours, workplace accommodation, rehabilitation, job applications, retraining and reasonable efforts to resume earning. If an attempt failed, record the date, role, clinical reason and source rather than stating only that work was impossible.
Do not resign or close a business solely to strengthen a claim. If health makes a change necessary, obtain appropriate medical and employment advice and preserve the decision record. Mitigation is part of the evidence analysis, not an accusation that the injured person should ignore genuine limitations.
Preserve failed opportunities with appropriate caution
Where the accident allegedly prevented a promotion, contract, booking or new role, keep the source communication, selection stage, proposed terms, required duties and reason it did not proceed. Distinguish a signed engagement or formal offer from a prospect, lead or informal discussion. The stronger the claimed certainty, the more important the independent contemporaneous record becomes.
Record non-injury explanations that may have affected the opportunity, including a business downturn, project cancellation or employer restructuring. Disclosure does not abandon the claim; it allows the accident-related difference to be assessed honestly. A future earnings model should not convert every unrealised possibility into guaranteed income.
If the evidence is commercially sensitive, agree on a controlled sharing method and retain an unredacted original. Working copies may protect unrelated customer details, provided the removals are recorded and do not hide information relevant to the calculation.
Prepare the calculation as a transparent schedule
Use separate sections for past loss already incurred and possible future earning impairment. For each past period, show expected income, actual income, the difference and the source documents. Future loss requires reasoned assumptions about medical function, work options and career path, and may need vocational, industrial-psychology and actuarial evidence.
The RAF Act imposes a statutory cap on annual loss of income and support, adjusted over time. The applicable figure must be matched to the relevant legal date. Keep the published notice used for any calculation and do not copy an old cap into the schedule.
Keep the earnings pack tied to the RAF file
The loss documents do not replace proof of the collision, negligent driving, bodily injury, causation, valid lodgement or prescription. Cross-reference the employment file to the medical and accident evidence, and update the schedule as work and treatment change.
If a job has ended, self-employment evidence is incomplete, future capacity is disputed or time may be short, obtain legal advice before waiting for perfect financial records.
What these documents cannot prove alone
Employment and business records can establish an earnings history and actual change, but they do not by themselves prove that the accident caused the loss or predict future capacity. Expert opinion and legal analysis may be required. No document pack can guarantee compensation or replace current prescription, form, cap and lodgement advice.
FAQs
Are payslips enough to prove lost income?
Usually not. They should be connected to the job, absence or reduced work, medical restrictions, amounts actually received and relevant tax or bank records.
What should a self-employed person prepare?
Keep accounts, tax returns, bank statements, invoices, bookings, contracts, expense records and evidence showing how the injury changed the person’s ability to earn.
Should benefits and sick pay be disclosed?
Yes. Record salary, leave pay, insurance and other payments accurately so the calculation can distinguish the claimed difference and avoid duplication.
Can I use a cap amount found online?
Do not rely on a static figure. The statutory cap is adjusted over time and must be matched to the legally relevant date and claim analysis.
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Legal note
This article is general legal information for South African readers. It is not legal advice. Speak to a qualified legal professional about your specific facts before taking action.