What Are Important Considerations in Car Accident Pain and Suffering?

It’s estimated that there are between five to six million car accidents reported each year. Now most of these accidents tend to only result in small amounts of property damage or minor injuries. Sadly, a select few are much more serious than that.

These types of accidents can result in injuries and conditions that extend well beyond a few days or weeks. In these cases, it’s vital to not only look at medical bills and lost wages but also at car accident pain and suffering.

The problem is that pain can be quite subjective when it comes to insurance companies. So what considerations go into calculating this cost? And how can you maximize your damages compensation?

This guide will quickly go over the highlights you need to know about this important personal injury concept.

What Are Car Accident Damages?

Depending on the severity of the incident, car accident victims often have to deal with a wide range of medical costs and injuries. If another party was at fault for the car accident, it’s often up to their insurance company to cover the damages covered by the other party.

Now, some of these damages, like medical bills, property damage claims, and lost wages are easy to calculate. However, it’s important to remember that car accident damages can also cover things like pain and suffering.

This is especially true if the nature of your injury has hurt your quality of life. We’ll be exploring these types of damage in more detail, starting with the two different types.

What Are the Two Types of Pain and Suffering?

There are two main types of pain and suffering. The first is the most obvious type: physical pain and suffering. This refers to injuries caused by the car accident, as well as conditions that may arise from the injury.

For example, if someone gets their arm crushed in a car accident, that would represent some obvious pain and suffering. However, it would also include the chronic pain and disability status that would accompany an amputation of the arm at the hospital.

The second type of pain and suffering refers to emotional pain. Often a serious accident can cause a variety of psychological conditions. Perhaps the most common type is PTSD.

However, it can also include things like anxiety, depression, insomnia, and emotional distress. All of these things contribute to a loss of enjoyment in life. As such, they deserve car accident compensation just as much as physical injuries.

How Insurance Companies Calculate Car Accident Pain and Suffering

There are two common ways that insurance companies like to calculate a dollar amount to cover pain and suffering. The first type is the multiplier method. This method calculates the amount of money that you lost due to medical bills, car expenses, and lost wages.

Then, it multiplies that amount by a set number that’s typically no greater than five. The other common model is the per diem method. With this, insurance companies will assign you a specific dollar amount for each day that you experience pain.

They’ll continue this until your recovery. Sadly, both of these methods are flawed. The multiplier method is notorious for undervaluing pain and suffering. And the per diem method typically isn’t great for dealing with the long-term impacts of the accident.

That’s why it’s important to have a lawyer on your side that doesn’t adhere to either of these models. That way they can negotiate with insurance adjusters to produce a more comprehensive claim.

Factors That Can Influence Pain and Suffering

When it comes to pain and suffering in car accident cases, losses don’t typically have a dollar sign attached to them. For example, how do you calculate the damages for someone who wakes up every day in chronic pain because of their injury?

As such, you need to look at different factors to come up with an appropriate negotiating figure.

1. Seriousness of the Injuries

If you escaped from your car accident with a few scrapes and bruises, it might be hard to convince someone that you deserve money for pain and suffering.

However, the more serious the injury, the easier it will be to convince insurance companies and courts that you deserve compensation. Some of the common types of serious car accident injuries include things like:

• Broken bones
• Spine and neck injuries
• Amputations
• Burn injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Scarring
• Conditions that cause chronic pain

Remember that you should just judge the seriousness of the physical injuries. You also need to take things into account mental and emotional pain and suffering, like PTSD and emotional distress.

2. Recovery Period

The recovery period of your injury can add significantly to your medical bills. A three-day stay in the hospital tends to cost an average of $30,000. As such, if you’re there for a week it can put you in significant medical debt.

However, the recovery period can also relate to your pain and suffering. If your injury puts your life on hold for weeks, months, or even years, you should be compensated for the inconvenience. That’s why the longer the recovery period, the more money you can usually get out of your case.

3. Impact on Your Daily Life

The more a car accident injury affects your daily life, the more you can argue that it caused you pain and suffering. For example, if you rely on your arms for work, then a broken arm can significantly impact your schedule.

Similarly, if you love gardening, then being in a wheelchair can make it more challenging to enjoy the hobby that you once loved.

4. Emotional Impact

We mentioned that car accidents can result in a lot of emotional pain and suffering. This might be measured by the development of conditions like PTSD, or reoccurring nightmares.

However, you shouldn’t expect stingy insurance adjusters to take your word on the emotional impact of the crash. As such, we recommend seeing a therapist. This can help you deal with the emotional impact while also providing a professional opinion for your insurance adjusters.

5. Permanent Disabilities

Accidents need to be pretty serious to cause permanent disabilities. Sadly, it’s not uncommon. It’s estimated that as many as 3.2% of accidents can cause disabilities.

The only silver lining is that permanent disabilities can significantly increase the amount of compensation you receive for pain and suffering. If the injury affects the way you move, talk, or interact daily, insurance companies are much more likely to pay you an appropriate settlement.

That’s because if the case ever went to court, it would be easy for your lawyer to prove that the disability has caused huge amounts of pain and suffering in your life.

What Evidence Proves Car Accident Pain and Suffering?

When it comes to gathering evidence to prove your pain and suffering, medical bills are going to be crucial. A doctor’s note about your treatment, as well as any potential medications you might be on, can shed a lot of light on the seriousness of the damages caused.

As such, you must know exactly how to document an injury following a car accident. Other valuable pieces of evidence can include things like:

• Photographs from the accident and of your injuries
• Statements from witnesses
• Therapy records
• Proof of wages lost because of the injury

Even things like journals can have a huge impact. If you document both your emotional and physical journey following your accident, you’ll have a written record that can be referred to during the case.

If you’re experiencing pain make sure to document your pain levels each day as well.

How to Find a Good Car Accident Attorney

Now, for most car accident cases the law can be pretty straightforward for most lawyers. Generally, they’ll calculate property damage and medical bills, and then negotiate with the insurance companies.

However, if you also want compensation for your pain and suffering, you’re going to need an exceptional lawyer. Why? For one, it can be more difficult to prove pain and suffering over more concrete things like property damage.

However, your attorney also needs to be skilled at painting a picture. They need to describe things like what your life was like before the accident and how it’s changed for the negative afterward.

You can find an exceptional car accident lawyer by following the tips in this guide. Prioritize someone with experience and references who makes all of your questions feel heard during the consultation.

Ready for the Compensation You Deserve? Contact Us Today

We hope this guide helped you learn more about the considerations that go into calculating car accident pain and suffering. Sadly, insurance companies often use the subjective nature of pain to cheat you out of the money you deserve from your accident.

That’s why you need a law team like the kind found at Sweet Lawyers. We bring over forty years of experience to car accident cases.

This gives us the knowledge to find the best strategy that suits your specific accident. That’s why we have a 98% success rate with our cases. So if you’re ready to get the legal help you deserve, schedule your free consultation with us today.