While it’s not easy to put an exact price on the amount of pain and suffering one feels, in a legal claim there are methods to determine what a reasonable settlement would be.
There are many ways in which a car accident can impact your life. When it comes to asking for compensation from the driver responsible for the accident, the best way to deal with it is to proceed with a legal claim towards their insurance company.
In order to get proper compensation for everything you have to deal with in the aftermath of the accident, you generally need to create a list of specific demands, and back it up with evidence. One of the most difficult types of damages to prove is “pain and suffering”.
What Is Pain and Suffering?
To better understand what can be considered “pain and suffering” in a car accident claim, it’s important to differentiate between the two main types of damages considered in such a case.
The most obvious type of damage, that is also easier to prove and quantify, is economic damage. This typically includes the medical costs of investigations and treatment, lost wages from missing work and income opportunities, vehicle repairs needed in case of property damage, and so on.
However, car accident victims often deal with much more than that. Pain and suffering is part of the non-economic (or general) damages a car crash can cause. It represents the pain and discomfort brought by your injuries, and it has to be backed by medical evidence to pass as proof in a car accident claim.
Methods of Calculating Pain and Suffering
Pain is felt by every person differently, and the amount of pain you go through varies a lot with your health state, pain tolerance, and the nature of the injury. While it’s not easy to put an exact price on the amount of pain and suffering one feels, in a legal claim there are methods to determine what a reasonable settlement would be for these non-economic damages.
Here are two of the most widely used methods to calculate pain and suffering.
“Per Diem” Method
“Per diem” means per day in Latin. A certain amount of money is calculated for an average day in the victim’s life, from the moment of the accident to the time they reach MMI (Maximum Medical Improvement). The most commonly used amount of money attributed to a day in the victim’s life is the value of a working day from their most recent job.
After the insurance company calculates the daily amount is calculated, the total settlement will be determined by it and the number of days until recovery. This method, however, is rarely used and generally doesn’t apply to permanent injuries.
Multiplying Special Damages
In most car accident claims, pain and suffering is calculated as a multiplier of the economic damages. Since they are much easier to determine, the total can then be used as a basis for calculating the damages as a whole.
The pain and suffering multiplier can double, triple, or increase the amount given for economic damages manifold. Depending on the severity of the injuries and what the patient goes through during recovery, it can lead to a substantial amount.
Speak With an Experienced St. Louis Car Crash Attorney
If you have been involved in a St. Louis car accident attorney, you can be sure that the other party will do their best to minimize the amount of compensation you receive. Make sure your legal rights are protected by speaking with an experienced attorney as soon as possible after an accident.