Quick answer
First establish the income actually missed to date. Then test whether the injury continues to restrict the person’s ability to perform the pre-accident work or compete for suitable work in future. Past loss can often be reconciled from payroll, tax and bank records; future loss requires medical, vocational and financial assumptions that should be developed in the right order.
How to use this guide
Do not begin with an actuarial number. Begin with the accident, injury, work history, restrictions, actual receipts and reasonable return-to-work efforts.
Stabilise the current work record
Keep treatment and rehabilitation up to date for health reasons, and ask the appropriate clinician to record restrictions accurately. Preserve medical certificates, occupational-health communications, modified-duty plans and return-to-work outcomes. Do not ask a practitioner to sign a permanent-incapacity conclusion outside their evidence or expertise.
Tell the employer what documentation is needed without directing the content. A factual payroll and duties record is more useful than a supportive letter containing legal conclusions the employer cannot verify.
Calculate past loss from source records
Choose a clear cut-off date. For each pay period, show the normal supported remuneration, amounts actually received, leave or benefits used and the claimed difference. Reconcile the schedule to payslips, payroll, bank and tax records.
For commission or overtime, use a representative history and explain variation. For self-employment, reconcile revenue, expenses and personal earnings rather than claiming the full drop in turnover. Keep accident-related changes separate from seasonal, market or business effects.
Decide which question is actually next
Use a short decision table. If the past-loss schedule does not reconcile, the next step is source collection or accounting clarification. If medical restrictions are unclear, obtain the appropriate clinical evidence before modelling a career change. If the work ended for a disputed employment reason, separate the labour issue from the RAF causation analysis. If the financial foundation is sound but future capacity remains uncertain, define the vocational question.
Add one row for claim validity and timing. Confirm the driver or vehicle status, claimant authority, form and delivery record, and obtain advice on the applicable period before spending heavily on the earnings model. A calculation cannot substitute for the statutory claim requirements.
This table prevents the most expensive or impressive report from becoming the default next action. It should name the unanswered question, record needed, responsible person and decision that will follow.
Decide whether future capacity needs investigation
Future loss becomes a real question when restrictions persist, the person cannot return to the same duties, hours or level, career progression is affected, or work ended for a reason connected to the injuries. It is not established by the seriousness of the accident alone.
Prepare the pre-accident role and career record, current functional evidence, qualifications, work attempts and available alternatives. A vocational or industrial-psychology assessment may be considered after the medical foundation is sufficiently clear. Its role should be defined before the appointment.
Sequence experts around questions
Clinical experts address injury, treatment, prognosis and functional limits within their fields. Occupational or vocational evidence may address work demands and labour-market implications. An actuary calculates scenarios using assumptions supplied from the evidence. Each report should state its question, factual basis and limits.
More reports do not automatically create a stronger claim. If opinions conflict or records are incomplete, resolve the gap before paying for downstream calculations that depend on the disputed assumption.
Use evidence gates between stages
Before vocational work, check that the relevant medical opinions describe current function and prognosis within their disciplines. Before actuarial work, check that the earnings history, career scenarios, dates and assumptions have a stated source. Before responding to an offer, confirm which loss periods and future rights the proposal addresses.
An evidence gate does not require every fact to be certain. It requires uncertainty to be declared, with alternative scenarios used only where they have a rational factual basis. Ask each expert to identify material not supplied and the limits of the opinion rather than filling a missing input with an unexplained assumption.
Preserve the version that passed each gate. If later treatment, work or financial evidence changes the picture, document why the model was revised and which reports require reconsideration.
Add mitigation and alternative income
Document reasonable attempts to return, adapt duties, retrain or seek suitable work. Record what was tried, the result and the medical or practical reason it succeeded or failed. Preserve salary, sick pay, disability, insurance and other receipts instead of hiding them from the schedule.
The legal treatment of benefits and mitigation depends on the circumstances. Full disclosure lets the lawyer prevent double counting and explain which amounts are relevant.
Apply the statutory cap at the right point
The RAF Act caps annual loss of income and support, and the amount is adjusted through official notices. Do not reduce every early estimate to an old online figure. First establish the supported loss, then apply the correct legal framework and date-specific cap.
Keep the Gazette notice used in the file, record the applicable date and ask how apportionment, contingencies and other adjustments interact with the calculation. These are separate legal and evidential decisions.
Integrate the loss work with the claim
Past and future income analysis sits inside a valid RAF injury claim. Continue controlling prescription, current forms, medical evidence, lodgement and proof of negligent driving. A perfect earnings schedule cannot repair an expired or invalid claim.
If the claimant is self-employed, a child or student, has lost a career path, faces dismissal or has received a settlement offer, obtain advice before fixing future assumptions or signing.
Set a review date for the loss model rather than treating the first projection as permanent. Update employment, treatment, restrictions, actual receipts and mitigation evidence at defined intervals, retain the earlier version and explain each changed assumption. This version history lets advisers distinguish a real development from an unexplained increase in the claim and prevents different experts from working from inconsistent career or income scenarios.
What this process cannot predict
The steps above cannot guarantee that future work will be unavailable, that an expert will support the claim or that a particular amount will be awarded. Earning capacity is assessed from facts, expert reasoning and law, including contingencies and the statutory cap. This is general preparation information, not a loss calculation.
FAQs
Should I calculate future loss immediately?
Start with the past and current facts. Future loss needs a reasoned medical, vocational and financial basis rather than an early guess.
What if I returned to work on lower duties?
Preserve the new duties, hours, pay, accommodations and medical restrictions. Return to work does not automatically end an earning-capacity issue.
Who calculates the final loss?
Lawyers coordinate the legal claim; relevant factual witnesses and experts may support assumptions, and an actuary may calculate scenarios. No single report proves everything.
When does the RAF cap matter?
It applies within the statutory loss-of-income framework and is adjusted over time. The relevant notice and date must be matched to the claim.
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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.