It’s easy to figure out the amount of money you need to cover your medical bills and property damage after an accident – just add up all your bills and receipts.
Determine if you have an injury that is likely to result in a settlement award.
If you are injured by someone else, you may have the ability to collect money damages in order to be compensated for your injury. In general, to be eligible to receive a personal injury award from the person who injured you, that person must have been negligent in their actions that caused your injury. Examples of potential negligence include car accidents, slip and fall incidents, work related injuries, injuries arising because of a defective product, and physical attacks. However, a person who injures you in one of these ways is not automatically negligent. In order to be negligent:
Learn what you need to support your calculations for pain and suffering and how to increase your total injury compensation.
But most of us pay a higher cost for injuries than just what we can add up from receipts. How do you put a price on your pain and suffering?
It’s a lot harder to calculate a dollar amount that will fairly compensate you for pain and anguish, and even harder to justify your demand to the insurance adjuster.
Here’s where we unpack what to factor into your pain and suffering calculation, methods of calculation, and how the insurance company looks at different types of injuries.
What Counts as Pain and Suffering?
In personal injury claims, pain and suffering represent the emotional distress or “mental anguish” a person endures after being injured by the negligent acts of the at-fault party.
Pain and suffering is a term used for non-economic “general” damages that can’t be calculated by adding up bills and receipts.
Pain and suffering may be caused by:
Case Summary: Millions Awarded for Consortium, Pain and Suffering Claims
Forty-year-old Carrie DeJongh died after an allergic reaction to dye injected into her body for a CT scan. Her family filed a malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Roy Slice, who administered the CT Scan to Carrie.
During the trial, the jury was convinced that Carrie would not have died but for the physician’s malpractice.
The jury awarded $1.5 million to Carrie’s estate for her pre-death pain and suffering.
The jury also awarded $5.5 million to each of Carrie’s four children for loss of parental consortium, and $6 million to her husband for loss of spousal consortium.
You won’t be eligible for pain and suffering compensation in some circumstances, such as:
Pain and Suffering Calculation Methods
Two basic methods for calculating pain and suffering compensation are the Per Diem method and the Multiple methods.
Per Diem Method
Per Diem is a Latin term for “by the day.” The per diem method of calculating pain and suffering assigns a dollar value for one day (often the amount of the person’s daily wages) then multiplies it by the number of days the injured person was affected by the injury.
The per diem method is rarely used for insurance settlements.
Example: Per Diem Calculation
John suffered a concussion and broken arm when he slipped and fell at his local grocery store. The store’s insurance company accepted full liability for the accident.
John had to endure headaches and a “fuzzy headed” feeling for nearly three weeks. Until his concussion symptoms cleared, he couldn’t tolerate reading, watching television, or even being outside in sunny weather.
He was in a cast and sling for six weeks, which prevented him from working at his carpenter job and kept him from his regular gym workouts, yard work, and many household chores.
When John recovered from his injuries, his demand for compensation included $5,040 for pain and suffering, calculated as $120 per day for the 42 days (six weeks) he dealt with head and arm pain and loss of enjoyment of his life.
John used his average daily wage as the per diem value for his calculations.
Multiple Method
The Multiple Method is the more commonly used way to calculate pain and suffering for insurance settlements. This calculation is made by totaling the injured person’s economic damages and applying a multiple from one to five.
Economic damages are your hard costs for medical bills, lost wages, and related out-of-pocket expenses. Insurance adjusters called these special damages, or “specials.” You will have bills and receipts to support the dollar amounts figured into your economic damages.
The tricky part of using the multiple method to calculate your pain and suffering is figuring out which number to use as a multiple.
Convincing the Adjuster to Pay
You can’t just demand a large amount of money for your pain and suffering and expect the insurance adjuster to roll over. You’ll need to provide a reasonable and credible basis to justify the amount, and back it up with evidence.
Unless the accident left you critically or permanently injured, your demand for pain and suffering will probably be between one and three times the amount of your special damages. Your final settlement amount depends on the circumstances of your injury and your ability to justify your pain and suffering.
When negotiating settlements, most adjusters expect to add a small amount on top of the special damages to cover pain and suffering. You can take the offer and call it a day or use persuasive arguments to try to raise the pain and suffering amount in your settlement.
Excuses Used by Adjusters to Cut Pain and Suffering
Clash of kings game free download for pc. Most insurance adjusters will readily accept provable damages like medical bills, but will challenge the amount you seek for pain and suffering.
Adjusters will always refuse high pain and suffering demands when an injury claim involves:
Factors that Increase Compensation
Injuries that resulted in a long and difficult recovery or that have a significant impact on the victim will always be worth a higher pain and suffering value. For example:
Severe personal injury claims should always be handled by an experienced personal injury attorney . It’s the only way to get an appropriate amount of compensation for you and your family.
Case Summary: Jury Awards $15 Million for Pain and Suffering
Jerri Woodring-Thueson was an athletic 49-year-old when she was transferred to Harborview Medical Center Stroke Center for preventative care after a minor stroke.
Rather than get the state-of-the-art care she expected from Harborview, Jerri’s care was handed off to interns and residents. Her condition worsened until she was rushed into surgery.
Jerri made it through surgery but was left paralyzed on one side of her entire body. Her permanent injuries were devastating to Jerri and her husband.
At trial, Jerri’s attorney alleged that the negligence of Harborview and the doctors in charge of her care were the direct cause of her disabling paralysis.
The jury agreed awarded $10.3 million to Jerri for past and future economic losses, $10 million for her non-economic damages, and $5 million for her husband’s pain and suffering, for a total of $25.3 million.
Proving Your Pain and Suffering
Pain and suffering is a different experience for each individual, so think about how your injuries affected your lifestyle and emotional well-being.
Also, think about how long the injury will interfere with your life:
If you’re completely healed and don’t expect any problems in the future, you can reasonably ask for one or two times the amount of your specials for pain and suffering. When you are facing ongoing effects of your injuries, you are justified in pursuing a larger amount for pain and suffering.
No matter how much you demand, you’ll have to convince the adjuster of the negative effect the pain and suffering have had on your quality of life.
How Evidence Can Help Your Claim
Before you begin calculating your pain and suffering demand, think about how you’ll convince the adjuster to raise the multiple. You’ll list those reasons in your demand letter and later rely on them in settlement negotiations.
Your arguments must be logical and based on as much credible evidence as you can provide.
Medical Records: Point to your medical records to back up your claims for pain and suffering and emotional distress. Tell your medical providers how the injury is affecting your activities of daily living.
In addition to your written narrative, include a copy of the relevant medical records. For example:
Photographs of your injuries throughout treatment can say a lot about your pain and suffering. Pictures of you in a mangled car, hospital bed or gurney can be very compelling.
Witness statements: Just like you can ask someone who saw how you got hurt to provide a witness statement, you can also ask your family, neighbors, and helpers to write down what you have been going through since the injury. They can write about helping you with:
Your helpers can describe what you couldn’t do for yourself after the injury, but only you can describe how it made you feel.
Take Notes: Keep a diary or journal with detailed notes about the impact of the injury on your life and happiness. Use descriptive language to explain:
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To succeed in raising your settlement amount, you must be able to put your pain and suffering into words that are clear, reasonable, and persuasive to the adjuster.
Take time to think about what you lost and how you suffered as a result of the injury. You only have one opportunity to settle your claim, so don’t hold back.
The better prepared you are to convince the adjuster of the depth of your pain and suffering, the higher your final compensation will be.
You don’t have to settle for less. If you were severely injured or not comfortable dealing with the insurance company, talk to a personal injury attorney about the value of your claim.
Most reputable injury lawyers don’t charge for the initial consultation, so it costs nothing to find out what a good attorney can do for you.
Video: Calculate Pain and SufferingHow Much is Your Injury Claim Worth?
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