Personal injury claims allow injured people to seek financial compensation from negligent individuals or businesses. At our firm, Michael J. Lichner has helped many people hurt in car wrecks and other accidents seek fair compensation for a variety of losses. Some of these damages are economic in nature, including the cost of medical care or lost wages. But some damages are non-economic, including pain and suffering. Questions arise in every case about how to calculate pain and suffering damages. Unlike with medical care, you don’t have a bill to present to the insurance company. Instead, these losses are more subjective. Call our office to speak with a Will County personal injury lawyer.
What is Pain and Suffering?
This is a legal term that covers the non-economic effects of an accident, such as:
- Bodily pain. You can expect shooting or stabbing pain, or possibly intense aches and pains following any type of bodily trauma. A broken bone can throb constantly, or your sprained back can seize up whenever you try to sit.
- Mental distress. Someone who feels constant pain will also suffer from emotional distress, such as irritability or anger.
- Sleep disruption. Many of our clients struggle with insomnia due to pain, which can have compounding effects. The less you sleep, the longer your body will need to heal, which is a vicious cycle.
- Loss of enjoyment of life. Bodily injuries also prevent people from enjoying hobbies, like going for walks, playing golf, or even visiting friends and family.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder. This is a behavioral response to a traumatic incident. Common symptoms include flashbacks to the accident, as well as avoiding anything that reminds you of the accident.
We seek financial compensation for non-economic damages like those listed above. Of course, money is an imperfect substitute for feeling constant pain or suffering sleepless nights. Nonetheless, it’s what we can force the defendant to give you.
A big question is how to calculate damages for pain and suffering. There are a few common methods.
Three Methods for Calculating Pain and Suffering Damages
If your injuries keep you from working for three months, there’s an easy way to calculate how much to request: look at your recent pay stubs and multiply by the number of pay periods you missed because of the accident. There is no similar easy method for valuing pain.
Instead, there are three methods for calculating pain and suffering: the multiplier method, the per diem approach, and research involving recent settlements and verdicts.
The Multiplier Method: Flexible Method
The multiplier method calculates pain and suffering based on your economic damages, such as lost wages and medical bills. Add those up.
Then, multiply the economic loss by a number from 1.5 to 5. This gives you an amount to request for pain and suffering.
For example, you might have lost $10,000 for medical care and $8,000 for wages. We then multiply $18,000 by 1.5-5, giving you between $27,000 and $90,000. A fair amount for pain and suffering would fall within that range.
Generally, less significant injuries will fall on the lower end of the multiplier (1.5), while more serious injuries will fall at the higher end (5). Someone who experiences temporary pain from a strain will likely get 1.5 times their economic damages, while someone with a permanent injury, like an amputation, will request more.
Note: This method gives only a rough estimate. The insurance company might not agree that you deserve as much.
Per Diem Method: Easy to Use
Per diem means “by the day” in Latin. Under the per diem approach, we assign a dollar value for each day you experience pain and suffering. Then we multiply this amount by the number of days you experienced pain.
For example, we might believe $200 represents a fair amount for a day of pain. Because you felt pain and suffering for 90 days, we multiply $200 by 90, giving you $18,000.
The difficulty with the per diem approach is determining a fair value for a day of pain. The insurance company will likely assign a lower dollar value than your own attorney.
Comparable Injury Method: Subjective but More Helpful
Another approach is to research recent settlements involving injuries like yours. For example, you could have broken your arm and suffered whiplash in a rear-end collision. We then look for settlements for people who suffered similar injuries.
We can also look at how much someone received if they went to trial for injuries like yours. Remember, if settlement negotiations falter, then we might have to file a lawsuit. All negotiation takes place against a backdrop of what could happen if we litigate in court.
This method provides a realistic assessment of how much you can receive. Each insurance company is slightly different in its approach with respect to how pain and suffering is calculated, so we focus on claims handled by the insurer on the other side of your case.
What Can Limit Your Pain and Suffering Damages
We need to mention some factors that can reduce your pain and suffering award:
- Defendant’s lack of resources. You can’t wring money from someone who has no funds. Some defendants only have a small insurance policy, or nothing at all. Even if you experience life-altering pain, the defendant’s inability to pay is a limit.
- Your failure to mitigate your damages. All accident victims must take reasonable steps after an accident to treat their injuries. For example, you should go to the hospital or visit your doctor soon after getting hurt. If you fail to, then a defendant might claim some of the pain you feel is your fault.
- Your comparative negligence. Illinois is a comparative negligence state. Your own share of fault will reduce your settlement by a similar percentage. That will reduce your pain and suffering compensation as well.
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Michael J. Lichner has helped accident victims for decades. Our office can tackle any type of bodily injury claim, from the most complex to the simplest. Contact us to schedule a free consultation with a Joliet personal injury lawyer.