Personal injury accidents like car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian, and slip and fall accidents can cause victims to experience physical harm. They can suffer serious injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), spinal cord injuries, and bone fractures.
These injuries can result in constant pain and suffering, as someone can feel shooting pain in their injured body part every time they use it. The memory of the traumatic accident can also result in emotional pain and suffering, as they experience negative thoughts and reduced quality of life.
There are two standard methods for calculating pain and suffering damages: the multiplier and per diem methods. A personal injury lawyer can walk you through what each of these methods entails and which would be better for helping you calculate your pain and suffering damages.
What are Pain and Suffering Damages?
Those who experience personal injury accidents can suffer damages that affect their physical health and quality of life. People commonly worry about economic damages, such as medical bills and lost wages, in the aftermath of an accident. However, non-economic damages that affect a personal injury victim’s quality of life and mental health are just as important.
One of the most common non-economic damages caused by a personal injury accident is pain and suffering. It encompasses the physical and emotional suffering that a personal injury victim can experience. The weeks and months after an accident can be difficult as a victim has to contend with the pain and suffering.
Pain and suffering can manifest as physical pain, organ damage, difficulty using injured body parts, fear, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Personal injury victims must consider how to deal with this pain to avoid spiraling into a negative frame of mind.
How Much Can You Recover for Pain and Suffering Damages?
Victims of personal injury accidents can file claims with the at-fault party to pursue compensation for damages. They can collect evidence to prove they suffered damages as a result of the at-fault party’s negligence.
However, pursuing compensation for non-economic damages is more difficult than for economic damages. Medical bills, lost wages, and property damages have specific economic values through bills. Non-economic damages do not, as they encompass your emotional and psychological suffering.
Insurance companies can limit how much they pay for non-economic damages because it can be challenging to prove pain and suffering. However, there are calculators you can use to determine the cost of your pain and suffering that you can use to hold the liable party accountable for the effect on your quality of life.
The Multiplier Method for Calculating Pain and Suffering Damages
Two methods are used for calculating pain and suffering damages: the multiplier and per diem methods. The multiplier method is a common method used by personal injury victims.
They will add up the full cost of their economic damages and multiply that figure by a number ranging from one to five. How much they multiply the economic damages depends on the severity of their injuries. The number calculated by multiplying economic damages will be how much the personal injury victim can recover for pain and suffering damages.
Some factors affecting the multiplier include the severity of injuries, whether they were exposed to life-threatening health consequences, how much the at-fault party is liable for the accident, how long it takes to recover from injuries, and whether there is evidence of pain and suffering.
Calculating Pain and Suffering Damages With the Per Diem Method
Another way that you could calculate your pain and suffering damages is with the per diem method. Per diem is a Latin term that means per day. The method involves establishing how much one day’s worth of pain and suffering is worth.
You and your personal injury lawyer can determine this daily cost by the amount of physical pain and emotional suffering you must endure. That daily cost is then multiplied by the number of days you had to live with the severe injuries from the personal injury accident.
The per diem method normally involves calculating the daily cost until you reach maximum medical improvement. Normally, personal injury victims will use their daily earnings at work to determine what the daily cost of their pain and suffering damages equates to.
Insurance Providers Will Use Their Own Pain and Suffering Calculators
Personal injury victims should be aware of the fact that insurance companies will use their own pain and suffering calculators. They will want to establish a value that they are willing to pay for pain and suffering damages.
In most cases, the value they are willing to pay will be less than what you calculate. Insurance providers will always try to deny, delay, or devalue your claim. That can include pain and suffering damages. Your personal injury lawyer can negotiate a settlement with the at-fault party’s insurance company to ensure you recover fair compensation for pain and suffering.
How Can a Personal Injury Lawyer Help You Calculate Pain and Suffering Damages?
Hiring a personal injury lawyer can help with calculating the cost of your pain and suffering damages. They can advise you on which of the above methods is best for getting you the most compensation for your pain and suffering damages.
An experienced personal injury attorney can also help you negotiate a settlement with the at-fault party’s insurance company. Rather than letting them limit your settlement, they can establish the cost of your pain and suffering damages through evidence to help you financially recover from the trauma of a personal injury accident.
Contact The Russo Firm for Help With Your Personal Injury Claim
At The Russo Firm, our personal injury lawyers have experience helping victims of motorcycle, truck, slip and fall, and car accidents. They know how to calculate your pain and suffering damages to help you recover from a traumatic accident.
Our experienced personal injury lawyers offer free consultations to evaluate potential clients’ cases and show them how they can help them recover fair compensatory damages. Contact us for a free personal injury accident consultation at (561) 270-0913 or leave a message on our online contact page.
