When you file a personal injury lawsuit, there are a number of different types of damages that may be available to you. Some of these damages are for actual financial losses and include things such as lost wages and payment for medical bills. Other damages are for losses that cannot be measured in dollar amounts. These include “compensatory” damages including payment for the pain and suffering you endured.
Calculating Pain and Suffering
Personal injury damages are intended to make a plaintiff whole for injuries he suffered after an accident. Because a person suffers pain when he is injured, he needs to be compensated for this in order to make him whole. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to put a dollar amount on how much pain is worth or how much someone should be paid for the suffering they endured.
To help calculate appropriate pain and suffering damages, some insurance companies use something called a “pain multiplier.” Essentially, this means that the insurance company assesses the actual financial loss (the cost of medical bills and lost wages) and then multiples this actual amount of loss by a given number or multiplier. The typical range of a pain multiplier can be anywhere from 1.5 to 5, although this can vary from insurance adjuster to insurance adjuster and company to company.
This pain multiplier may be used as a starting point for negotiations when it comes to agreeing on pain and suffering damages. If you and the insurance company settle outside of court, for instance, the pain multiplier may be used to come to an original settlement offer that you can then negotiate or adjust depending on the situation.
In many cases, however, simply multiplying your economic damages by a multiplier is not sufficient to truly give you an indication of what your pain is worth. For instance, someone who suffered a more serious injury but who makes a lower income would not be entitled to less in compensation than someone with a more mild injury but who has to take a long time off from a high paying job. As such, other factors can be considered in determining pain and suffering as well. An experienced personal injury lawyer can help you to determine what factors should be considered when evaluating what your pain and suffering claim is worth.
Proving Pain and Suffering
One factor that can be considered in determining how much you should be compensated for pain is the question of whether you have actual evidence to prove that you are suffering. The more solid and concrete details you can provide about how your pain impacts your life, the easier it is to prove that you are entitled to larger pain and suffering damages. As such, many personal injury lawyers in the Houston and Beaumont areas will advise you to keep a pain and suffering journal or diary in order to ensure that you have clear records of your discomfort. Taking pictures of the extent of your injuries is another good tactic. Some people may even go so far as to video tape themselves going about their day in order to show how the pain impacts them. Your personal injury attorney will help you to decide what the best options are for you and will work with you on building a strong case.
