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Putting A Price Tag On Pain And Suffering

19 October 2016

Michelle Garrett

If you have suffered an injury from a car accident caused by a careless driver, you may already have a good understanding of what to expect in terms of compensation. The at-fault driver's insurance company may pay you for your vehicle's repair or replacement, handle your medical expenses, cover your lost wages and more. When it comes to being compensated for pain and suffering, however, many victims are left wondering how this area of harm can equate to a dollar amount. In fact, your pain and suffering can be translated to a dollar amount for personal injury purposes, so read on to learn more.

What is meant by pain and suffering?

If you could pinpoint a single phrase that would encompass the pain, misery, inconvenience, emotional problems and the accident's effect on your family, that phrase would likely be "pain and suffering." If your day-to-day life has been impacted in a major way from the accident, you are entitled to be compensated for your pain and suffering. The emotional problems alone can be devastating—problems sleeping, anxiety, depression, eating disorders and more. Additionally, your spouse and children have been deeply affected by your accident injuries. For example, you may no longer be able to play catch with your daughter or take that planned vacation with your spouse.

Putting a price on pain and suffering.

Keep up with your medical records and expenses, since knowing and providing proof of this information plays a key role in the dollar. amount that the insurance company will offer you to settle. Once the insurance company has access to the total dollar amount (so far) of your medical expenses, they use a calculator to assign a factor number, which is multiplied by your medical expenses amount. This multiplier, which can range from 1.5 to 5, is used to arrive at a settlement offer amount. It should be noted that some insurance companies use different methods of calculation, but your personal injury attorney will have that information at hand. It's important to try to predict the settlement amount, since knowing ahead of time presents your attorney with valuable information about setting a target settlement amount.

The insurance company looks at, among other things:

• The length of your hospital stay.
• Whether or not you had to have surgery.
• The severity of your injuries.
• The total dollar amount of your medical expenses.
• The percentage of fault, if any, that you share with the other driver.
• The recent awards in your area for similar cases.
• The possibility of permanent injury.
• Your age, education level and wage earning ability.

To learn more about dealing with the pain and suffering and how to get compensated for it, contact a personal injury attorney, such as those found at Shaevitz Shaevitz & Kotzamanis.

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