Assigning A Dollar Sign To Pain And Suffering
Posted on: 15 December 2018
Getting hurt in a car wreck can mean being eligible for many categories of compensation. Most of these categories are easily equated to dollars and cents. For example, your medical bills and lost wages can be translated into a dollar figure. Pain and suffering presents a challenge, however. Read on to learn more about how this particular and unique category of personal injury damages is usually calculated.
What is Pain and Suffering?
In terms of money, this category of personal injury can be quite valuable and exceed any other expense. The other areas of compensation are set by the actual expenses, but pain and suffering is subjective and depends on the victim.
In general terms, pain and suffering is the way your life has been negatively influenced by the accident. It is not just your physical injuries that are considered but the way those injuries have affected your life. For example, if, as a result of the accident, you are now experiencing anxiety every time you travel in a car, that is pain and suffering. If you are unable to play catch with your child due to your injuries, that is pain and suffering. It is the emotional and mental strain placed on accident victims that would otherwise not be present if not for the accident.
Equating Pain and Suffering to Compensation
To convert pain and suffering to dollars and cents, the insurance companies use a mathematical formula that is based on the top dollar amount of your medical expenses. Since your pain and suffering can rise according to the level and cost of your medical expenses, this means of calculating provides a starting point for a settlement offer or court judgment.
While exact methods to calculate pain and suffering can vary, many insurance companies and attorneys use a similar method. The dollar amount of medical expenses is the base number and that is multiplied by a factor. The factor ranges from 1.5 up to 5 or more. The higher the factor, the higher your level of pain and suffering. Higher factors correspond with more serious and permanent injuries, for example. Once multiplied, the number is then added to the rest of the money damages like lost wages and vehicle repairs.
What Else to Know
The calculation method above can also be affected by things like:
- Whether or not you share any liability for the accident.
- Your age, job, and education level.
- The amount of other settlements that share similarities.
Talk to personal injury attorneys like the Palmetto Injury Lawyers for more information.
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