How is Post-Accident Pain and Suffering Evaluated Legally?

Most states allow you to include a settlement claim for “pain and suffering” after an accident if you’re filing for personal injury. Even though that deserves acknowledgment, it isn’t easy to put a monetary value on something intangible, invisible, and immeasurable. 

It’s a challenge to quantify pain because, as mentioned, you often can’t see it. It lacks empirical evidence which makes the legal evaluation of pain and suffering subjective. However, some physical symptoms such as redness, swelling, bruises, cuts, or impaired mobility are taken into account to assess the intensity. But with that as well, determining the severity of pain is still uncertain, especially since every person’s pain threshold is different.

Types of Pain

Pain is categorized into two main types: physical pain and mental suffering. These two combined provide a somewhat holistic explanation of a victim’s pain and suffering after a traumatic incident. The law refers to them as “general damages.” Arriving at a statistical value for the general damages doesn’t follow a mathematical formula.

If the injuries are obvious such as fractures or broken bones, it’s a shared belief that the person will require medical treatment, wear a cast for the prescribed period or undergo surgery. But soft tissue injuries such as inflammation of tendons, ligament damage, or muscle strain don’t appear on an X-ray report and are less obvious. However, the pain that they cause can be severe. In such cases, evaluation requires deeper consideration.

Multiplier Method

There are two common ways of assigning a numerical value to pain. One of them is the multiplier method. This evaluates the general damages by aggregating the medical expenses that have been incurred in the past and will be incurred in the future. That number is multiplied again by a multiplier (which can be any number between 1.5 and 5, with the latter being the highest). The multiplier value allows you to put a number to the severity of your suffering including absenteeism from work, impact on daily life, and recovery process. Insurance companies also rely on this method when calculating the amount of coverage they’ll offer.

Per Diem Calculation

The second approach is the per diem—per day method. This takes into account the entire recovery period that the plaintiff needs and multiplies that by a standard dollar value such as $100 or $200. The dollar value is in reference to the severity of your pain and suffering and gives the authorities a ballpark estimate. However, don’t set your hopes on the insurance company to provide maximum coverage. They will try every trick to cut down on the payments they owe to you. But a competent attorney can handle the job efficiently.

Are you looking for personal injury attorneys in Little Rock? Accidents can leave a lasting dent in your finances. Lawyers at the Law Offices of Lisa Douglas can help compensate for some costs by fighting for a settlement on your behalf. Reach out to them for a free quote.