What Is Loss Of Earning Capacity
The accident has changed what kind of work you can realistically do from now on.
Loss of earning capacity is compensation for a reduced ability to earn in the future. It is separate from income you have already missed.
It applies where an injury genuinely limits the kind of work you can do going forward. This might mean changing roles, working fewer hours, or leaving physical work altogether.
Rajoo worked as a site supervisor on construction projects around Kuantan. His job involved climbing scaffolding and long hours on his feet.
A road accident left him with a permanent knee restriction. He could still work, but only in a desk-based role that paid noticeably less. That gap between his old earning potential and his new reality is what this claim addresses.
The difference from ordinary lost income
Loss of earnings before trial covers days or weeks already missed. It is proven with payslips and medical certificates.
Loss of earning capacity looks forward instead. It considers how the injury changes your realistic future earning potential. This is usually proven through a specialist’s opinion on your physical limitations.
Who this can apply to
This can apply even if you are currently still working. A doctor needs to support that your ability to earn has genuinely been reduced, for example by a permanent injury that rules out physically demanding work.
You do not need to have stopped working altogether. Your earning potential only needs to have changed for the worse.
The age limit that matters
This claim generally cannot be made once the injured person is aged 60 or over.[1] Below that age, the assessment considers how many working years remain, and how the injury affects them.
If you are approaching that age, get your specific situation reviewed. Do not assume either way.
What actually supports this claim
A clear medical opinion matters most here. It should describe the physical limitation, and how it affects the type of work you can realistically do.
A general sense that things feel harder now is much weaker on its own. Making a loss of earning capacity claim and how future earning capacity is valued go into how that assessment actually works.
If your injury has changed your working future, gathering that specialist opinion is the most useful next step. From there, a road accident claim can move further.
Common questions
How is loss of earning capacity different from loss of earnings?
Loss of earnings covers income actually missed between the accident and trial or settlement. Loss of earning capacity looks ahead instead, at a reduced ability to earn going forward, and the two are proven with different evidence even though both can apply to the same claim.
Do I need to have already lost income to claim for this?
No. This is about your future earning ability, so it can apply even if you are currently still working, provided a doctor supports that your ability to earn has genuinely been reduced going forward, for example by a permanent physical restriction.
I am 58. Can I still claim for loss of earning capacity?
It may still apply, since the current cutoff is age 60, but the shorter time remaining before that limit is factored into the assessment. Confirming your exact position is worth doing with your specific injury and age in mind.
What if I can still work, just not in my old role?
That is a common situation. Being pushed into lower paid or lighter work because of an injury, even while still employed, can support a claim for reduced earning capacity, since the comparison is with what you could have earned before the accident.
Sources
- Skrine, The Civil Law (Amendment) Act 2019 In force 1 September 2019 (Act A1591), amending s.28A of the Civil Law Act 1956 (accessed 2026-09-22)