Pain and Suffering Value 

How do we calculate pain and suffering? This can sometimes be difficult. When you are in a car accident, the insurance company wants to get a written document that releases any and all claims against the person that caused your damages and injuries. To get that release, the insurance adjuster must compensate you adequately. 

You are entitled to special damages (medical bills, wage loss, medicine, etc.) and general damages (pain and suffering, loss of consortium, physiological injuries, etc.) Most of the time, calculating the Special Damages is not very difficult and there is not much debate over the value of the medical bills, wage loss, and other medical expenses. You can add them all up and submit your receipts.

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Calculating general damages, however, which includes pain and suffering, can be very difficult. At times like this, you should consult an experienced personal injury lawyer at the Harris Law Firm, P.A.

How Much is it Worth? 

How much is your neck pain worth? This depends who you ask. If you ask the insurance adjuster, then he or she will probably low ball the figure at a level you believe is insulting. If you ask your accident attorney, then is probably worth much more than that. 

Personal injury attorneys use the medical bills or all "special damages" as a way to calculate general damages. Some multiply the medical bills by three or even four times. This is only a rule of thumb. Catastrophic harms and losses, could see an experienced accident attorney request up to 10 times the special damages amount. 

The insurance adjuster will fight you and will tell you that is not an accurate way to calculate pain and suffering. There are no laws that will give you a formula to calculate the value of the injury. This is generally lefty to the sound discretion of the jury after hearing and weighing all the evidence. In the absence of a trial, like during settlement negotiations, it requires a meeting of the minds. 

Multiplying Bills? 

Simply multiplying your medical bills will not yield an accurate number. You could have an injury with medical bills of $2,000 but the pain and suffering be worth much more than three or even four times that value. For example, a five year old girl who suffers a cut on her face, leaving a scar above her eyebrow. Medical bills for stitches and cleaning the wound might not be very much, but the scarring and potential psychological injury of growing up with such injury could be worth much more. 

Multiplying the medical bills is not very accurate when assessing the value of pain and suffering, however, it can guide you. Remember that there are many more claims than just "pain and suffering" in a car accident. You can ask for loss of consortium, loss of earning capacity, loss of quality of life, etc. All of these claims can add to a lot of money. 

Asking for the Right Damages Compensation 

Most people forget to ask for any of those types of damages; but, your experienced accident attorney will not. Insurance companies do not explain the process and they just want a release for any and all claims, including all those damages you forgot or did know to ask for. Insurance companies do this on purpose. Beware.

Insurance Companies Lowball Settlement Offers 

Insurance adjusters are ready to tell you that the value of the injury is separated from the accident itself. They are trained to argue that they are settling for the neck pain, not the fact that the total loss settlement was low. 

They try to narrow the scope of the settlement. For example, they will tell you that the fact that the driver who struck your car was drunk is not accounted for because they are looking at pain and suffering. Your pain will not be more or less because someone else was drunk. If you were hit at the same speed and the same conditions by a sober person, your pain and suffering would be the same (same impact, same injury). 

The insurance adjuster would be correct; the pain would be the same. But remember that what the insurance company is doing is "buying your lawsuit". Would the fact that a driver hit you while intoxicated increase the value a jury would award you? Probably yes (and a drunk driving accident often leads to a punitive damages claim, too). 

Accident Lawyer Here to Help 

To get the most out for your pain and suffering, use the value of your medical bills, the circumstances surrounding the accident, the type of injury, similar cases jury awards, and all the bodily injury claims you can make. Double check every argument the insurance adjuster is making. Make sure you are getting a fair treatment. 

An experienced, dedicated personal injury attorney at our personal injury law firm knows how to assess your accident injury claim, and will fight hard, ethically, and promptly, to secure you the best settlement possible.

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