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How much you should ask for pain and suffering from a car accident will rest on the details of your situation. A personal injury lawyer can take into account many factors of your case when it comes to calculating the cost of your pain and suffering.
These factors include:
- The severity of your injuries
- The nature of the collision
- The cost of your economic damages
- The impairments to your quality of life
- Whether anyone passed away due to their injuries
According to the Legal Information Institute (LII), pain and suffering is defined as “the physical or emotional distress resulting from an injury.” Typically, the more expensive your economic damages are (e.g., medical bills and lost income), the more you can expect to recover for pain and suffering. A personal injury lawyer can review the details of your case and explain how much you might be able to recover in pain and suffering-related damages.
How Insurance Companies Calculate Pain and Suffering
Each insurance company employs a different method of calculating the cost of one’s pain and suffering. Some insurers use what is known as the “per diem” method. This formula calculates how long it will take you to recover from your injuries and then multiplies that amount by a pre-established value.
For instance, let us say you suffered a broken arm. Your doctor might say that it will take 60 days for your injury to fully heal. The insurer might offer you $100 for each day that you are injured. With this formula, you would be able to recover $6,000 in pain and suffering.
However, not all insurance companies use the per diem method. Others use the multiplier method. This formula takes the cost of your economic damages and multiplies that number by a figure between 1.5 and five. The figure is determined based on the severity of your injuries, with 1.5 being the lowest and five being the highest.
Insurance companies are not required to use a certain method when it comes to calculating pain and suffering. Again, when you work with a personal injury lawyer, they can assess the details of your case and explain how much you should ask for pain and suffering from a car accident.
Other Recoverable Damages from a Car Accident
Your lawyer’s goal is to help you recover compensation for your collision-related expenses. They might be able to accomplish this goal by filing a personal injury claim or lawsuit. While the American Bar Association (ABA) notes that most personal injury cases never make it to trial, it may be an option in your case if settlement negotiations with the liable insurer fail.
Other than pain and suffering, in a successful case, you might be able to recover the cost of:
- Your medical bills
- Physical disability
- Lost income, wages, tips, benefits, and bonuses
- Rehabilitative care
- Reduced earning capacity
- Disfigurement
- Property damage
You might have other recoverable damages not included here. Your lawyer can investigate the details of your case to estimate the cost of your accident-related expenses.
How a Car Accident Lawyer Can Help You Recover Compensation
Following a car accident, you might be left with painful injuries, expensive medical bills, and impairments to your quality of life. Navigating the financial recovery process can be especially confusing if you have no legal background or have never been in a collision before. A lawyer can aid in your pursuit of compensation by:
- Handling your case’s filing and paperwork
- Estimating the cost of your damages
- Advising you on your legal options
- Negotiating with the insurance company
- Reviewing the details of the involved insurance policies for coverage options
- Filing a lawsuit on your behalf, if necessary
Many personal injury lawyers also offer flexible terms of payment by rendering services on a contingency-fee-basis. * This type of agreement would make it so that you do not have to pay your lawyer their attorney’s fees unless they recover compensation on your behalf.
Call Today to Learn About Your Legal Options
When you call George Sink, P.A. Injury Lawyers, our team can explain what options for legal recourse you have following a car accident. We can explain what measures we can take to recover compensation on your behalf in a free, no-obligation consultation. We have been serving personal injury clients for 40 years and have resolved 40,000 cases.
To learn more about recovering compensation after a car accident, call George Sink, P.A. Injury Lawyers.