Quick Answer Returning to work after a car accident requires medical clearance documenting your functional capacity and any restrictions. Premature return can worsen injuries and weaken your claim. MAIC provides return-to-work evaluations with documented functional assessments.

When Can You Return to Work?

Return to work after a car accident depends on the nature of your injuries, your job requirements, and your treating physician's assessment of your functional capacity. A patient with a mild soft tissue injury and a desk job may return to work within days. A patient with a lumbar disc herniation causing radiculopathy who performs heavy manual labor may be disabled for months or longer.

Medical Clearance and Work Restrictions

Your treating physician should provide written work restrictions specifying any limitations — maximum lifting, no prolonged sitting or standing, no overhead reaching — rather than a binary "cleared" or "not cleared." These restrictions protect you from reinjury and document the functional impact of your injuries for your case.

Lost Wage Benefits Under No-Fault

If your treating physician determines you are unable to work due to car accident injuries, New York No-Fault insurance covers lost wages up to $2,000 per month for up to 3 years from the accident date. Documentation of disability — consistent with your clinical findings — is required for lost wage benefits. MAIC's treating physicians provide this documentation when clinically supported.

For work restriction evaluation and disability documentation, call MAIC at (888) 991-5290.