How Much Is Pain and Suffering From a Car Accident?

Pain and suffering can be difficult to define and prove after a car accident. You might have heard about accident victims recovering from their pain and suffering from an accident. You may believe that you should be entitled to recover for your pain and suffering, too. Proving you have losses for pain and suffering can be highly challenging, so always hire a car accident attorney to calculate and pursue your claim.

This article discusses pain and suffering and how much financial recovery you can expect after getting into a car accident. Contact a San Jose car accident attorney immediately if you or a loved one has suffered from an injury.

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What Does Pain and Suffering Mean?

You should know what pain and suffering are before trying to recover damages for it. Pain and suffering damage include the emotional fallout from a car accident. Car accident injuries can make life less enjoyable.

Pain and suffering are considered non-economic damages. Non-economic damages include intangible losses after an accident. These types of losses are usually hard to prove, especially if you try to do it alone.

An attorney can present evidence to prove non-economic damages, like pain and suffering.

Examples of Pain and Suffering

Pain and suffering can manifest in many ways. Accident victims can receive compensation for the discomfort caused by the car accident. For example, after a car accident, you can recover for the pain associated with treating your injuries. Suppose that your injuries require surgery to heal. If that is the case, you might be entitled to recover from the negative aftermath of the surgery, like insomnia, anxiety, depression, or drug addiction.

A pain and suffering settlement might also include compensation for lost enjoyment of life. Examples of what you can get for pain and suffering related to reduced quality of life include:

Social isolation
Inability to pursue hobbies
Inability to pursue or continue your chosen occupation
Losing enjoyment or interest in things you previously enjoyed

Who Is Eligible for Pain and Suffering Damages for a Car Crash?

Car accident victims commonly contend with enduring pain, particularly linked to whiplash injuries.

Any plaintiff pursuing pain and suffering damages must prove that they suffered a significant amount of physical pain or mental trauma. Your attorney can evaluate your losses to decide if you are eligible to recover pain and suffering damages.

What Is The Multiplier Method?

The multiplier method is the most commonly used technique to calculate pain and suffering. The multiplier method adds all your medical bills up and multiplies that number by a number ranging from 1.5 to 5. Less severe injuries are assigned a number closer to 1.5. The more severe the victim’s injuries are, the closer the multiplier is to five.

Your multiplier is based on several factors, including:

How your injuries affect your daily life and ability to care for yourself.
Whether your doctor gives you a prognosis for a full recovery.
The overall severity and effects of your injuries.

What Is The Per Diem Method?

The per diem method is a less common method of valuing pain and suffering damages. Using the per diem method, insurance adjusters assign a set dollar amount for each day that the accident victim dealt with the physical and emotional effects of the car accident and accident-related injuries.

Does the Law Limit How Much I Can Recover For Pain and Suffering?

It is normal to wonder whether you are limited in your recovery when it comes to pain and suffering damages. Each state has its own laws about limits for pain and suffering. In most states, the law does not limit how much a car accident victim can recover for pain and suffering damages.

What Is The Insurance Company Looking For?

The responsible driver’s insurance company must pay for your damages, but that is the last thing an insurance company wants to do. Insurance adjusters want to protect the company’s bottom line. Insurance companies will look for any reason to skip paying you to increase profits.

Insurance companies investigate accidents to find out what caused them. During their investigation, the other driver’s insurance company will contact you to try to gather as much evidence as possible. Be careful what you say; in fact, you should have your car accident lawyer handle all these communications.

Examples of what the insurance company will look for include the following:

Medical Records

The presence of a dedicated rescue team emphasizes the urgency and seriousness of the medical situation.

As mentioned above, the insurance company wants to review your medical records. They might start with records closely related to the accident and branch out. This typically happens at the beginning of the investigation. Make sure that you keep all of your medical records.

Adjusters want to review your medical records to learn more about your history and try to tie your current injuries to past issues. Discuss the implications of giving an insurance adjuster access to your medical records with an experienced car accident attorney.

In addition to keeping your medical records, you should also be careful to complete your treatment plan. Insurance companies will use any excuse to avoid making a payment to you. Do not give the insurance company any reason to get out of making a payment they owe you.

Medical Bills

Your medical bills are important to your settlement. Usually, the more severe your injuries, the more valuable your settlement. The amount of medical treatment your injuries require also shows how severe your injuries are. Medical records describe your injuries, and medical bills show how much your treatment costs. However, this is only the beginning of what your settlement should be worth.

Documentation of Lost Time At Work

Insurance companies will request documentation of any time that you missed at work. You might need to present paystubs or absence records to show what you missed. Like any other evidence, you should keep a record of the time you missed at work for yourself and share it with your legal team.

Journals

Journaling after a car accident can help you express how your injuries are affecting your physical and mental condition. Writing down your thoughts can help explain to your attorney what you’ve been going through since the accident. Daily entries or entries recording what you feel each day can serve as proof of your pain and suffering.

Picture of Your Injuries

Visual aids, like pictures of your injuries, can help prove your case. An insurance adjuster will likely want to see pictures of your injuries during the settlement negotiations process.

Statements From Friends and Family

No one knows you like your closest friends and family. Statements from people with a personal relationship with you can help show how your injuries have changed you since the accident. Your attorney can interview potential witnesses to your well-being and use what they learn to argue that you deserve compensation for your pain and suffering after a car accident.

Notes From a Mental Health Professional

Seeing a mental health professional after a car accident can be helpful to your settlement and your well-being. Therapist records can document the mental effects of your injuries. First, the bills from whatever mental health professional you see can provide financial proof of your pain and suffering. Next, your mental health records and notes from your therapist can show how the accident has affected your emotional health. All of this information can help you financially recover from pain and suffering.

Repair Estimates

Property damage and the cost of repairs should be considered in your final settlement. Dealing with repair shops, getting estimates, and the stress of finding a temporary replacement vehicle can all contribute to the pain and suffering you endure after an accident.

Be aware that simply having property damages might not be enough to compensate you for pain and suffering. Talk to your attorney about your rights to compensation for property damage.

Common Injuries In Car Accidents

Some injuries are more common than others in car accidents, though you should take every injury seriously. Depending on the severity of your accident, your injuries might be temporary or permanent. The potential long-term effects of car accident injuries can include paralysis, nerve damage, or other life-changing consequences. As a result of these injuries, you can suffer a significant amount of pain and suffering. Examples of common car accident injuries include the following:

Head and Brain Injuries

Head and brain injuries are among the most severe types of car accident injuries. Injuries to the brain or head usually happen when the force of the crash is so great that it slams the victim’s head against any part of the vehicle. Examples of head and brain injuries include traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), concussions, skull contusions, and intracranial hemorrhage.

Whiplash

Whiplash is a common injury after a car accident. Whiplash happens when the force of an impact jerks someone forward, but their seatbelt holds them back. This injury can have long-term effects. Many people live with at least some amount of pain in their necks long after the accident happens.

Facial Injuries

Facial injuries can result from a car accident. The impact of the crash can cause lacerations to the face from broken glass. If your face crashes against the dashboard, you can injure your eyes or break your nose or cheekbones. Facial injuries can cause scars, burns, blindness, or permanent disfigurement.

Fractures

A close-up image features a bandaged arm against the backdrop of a red, wrecked car.

Broken bones are common in car accidents. Even a minor accident can cause a broken bone. Recovery after suffering from a fracture can be several weeks in a cast and physical therapy after getting the cast removed.

Internal And Organ Injuries

The possibility of internal bleeding and organ damage is a major reason that you should get medical attention immediately after a car accident. Internal injuries can have serious complications that should not be taken lightly. An internal injury can quickly turn life-threatening. It can take a long time for the side effects of these kinds of injuries to subside. You can experience pain and discomfort and be entitled to receive pain and suffering compensation.

Back Injuries

Suffering from a back injury can greatly reduce your quality of life. Treating a back injury might require invasive surgery or multiple surgeries. You might need pain medication to cope with the recovery process. An injury to your back can leave you permanently disabled or greatly reduce your ability to walk. The pain from your injury can also keep you from returning to work. Some examples of common back injuries include herniated discs and torn ligaments.

Wrongful Death

Probably the most tragic result of a car accident is the loss of the victim’s life. Of course, no amount of money can bring your loved one back. State law allows certain family members to recover compensation related to the victim’s death. Speak to your attorney about how to recover pain and suffering damages if you have a wrongful death claim.

Can a Car Accident Attorney Help Me Prove Pain and Suffering?

Proving pain and suffering goes beyond just presenting the black-and-white facts of your case. An attorney can show the insurance company what life after the accident is like so that you can recover financially for pain and suffering after the crash.

Your attorney and legal team will get to know you during this process. They will ask questions and learn about your life before the accident and how it has changed since the crash. This attention to detail will help your lawyer effectively tell your story to the insurance company and a jury if required. An experienced attorney knows what facts to highlight to ensure you get everything you are entitled to after a car accident.

Contact a Car Accident Attorney Today

Recovering pain and suffering damages is an important part of your settlement. Although proving pain and suffering can be hard to do, you deserve to recover everything owed to you after a car crash. Getting an attorney is the best way to make sure that you get the money you deserve after a car accident. If you believe you are entitled to pain and suffering as a part of your car accident settlement, contact a San Jose personal injury attorney today.