How Are Pain and Suffering Damages Calculated?

After an auto accident causes injuries, you can file a claim to potentially get compensation for what you’ve been through. When going through the process of filing an injury claim, you want a trusted legal representative at your side who will make sure that your settlement is fair and will cover the costs of your injuries.

While some costs, often referred to as damages, may be obvious to you, such as the totals of your medical bills or damages to your vehicle, you have to consider the other effects of an auto collision. You may have suffered from significant emotional stress and this may continue to affect your life. These kinds of damages are called non-economic damages. These are difficult to assign a numerical value to, but your lawyer will be able to expertly calculate a fair settlement based on both your economic and non-economic damages.

Calculating Non-Economic Damages

One of the most common non-economic damages is called pain and suffering. It’s the combination of the anguish that injuries can cause. You’re suffering physically, mentally, and will likely still be dealing with this in the future.

Pain and suffering comes from injuries that result in loss of enjoyment of life, a disability, impairment, or disfigurement. These are all injuries that will heavily affect the person for the rest of their life. They may prevent the person from returning to work or participating in activities that they previously enjoyed.

There are a couple of ways that pain and suffering can be calculated. In the multiplier method, the total of the person’s medical bills, (including the future) is multiplied by a value between 1.5-5. The number is picked based on how extensive their injuries were. Your attorney will carefully look at the details of your case to find the correct multiplier that will lead to a fair settlement amount.

There’s also the per diem method, which calculates a dollar amount that should be paid each day in a certain time frame, which starts from the day the accident happened and continues until the injured party has recovered. While full recovery isn’t always possible, they can eventually get to their maximum medical improvement, which mean’s they’ve recovered as far as they’re able to. The daily amount is multiplied by the days it took to reach that point, which totals the settlement amount.

Proving Your Pain and Suffering

Evidence of your pain and suffering can provide a great deal of help to your claim. You should have some formal evidence that documents your pain and suffering. For instance, you could get a written opinion of a doctor and a mental health professional about what you’ve suffered and how it’s affecting you. You’re covering both your physical and mental health with these points. Your medical records reflecting what you’ve needed to recover can also provide insight to your pain and suffering.

You can also keep track of your pain and suffering yourself. Consider keeping a journal that details how the injuries make you feel and how they impact your life. When you have a daily log, you’ll be able to write down fresh details and share a lot of information as opposed to trying to remember everything a few weeks or even months later.

Pittman, Roberts & Welsh, PLLC

You deserve to have compensation that will give you financial peace of mind. Our lawyers are here for you. All you have to do is let us know. We’ll schedule a consultation to go over what happened to you and discuss your options for the future.