Pain and suffering is one of the most subjective and difficult things to value in your personal injury case. After all, how can someone else step into your shoes and tell you what you have experienced? In addition, this damage category can cover a very wide range of potential impacts from your accident.
Pain and suffering loosely translates to paying you for the physical and mental pain and discomfort that you have suffered and will continue to go through. This can range from the aches and pains that you feel to the awful anxiety that keeps you awake at night.
Elements of a Pain and Suffering Award
There is no one set definition that decides what you can and cannot be paid for as pain and suffering. However, it does include the following:
- The physical pain that causes you discomfort
- Emotional suffering that could include grief, anger and anxiety
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of physical consortium
Pain and suffering encompasses most of your non-economic damages. In other words, if you are being paid for things other than actual financial losses, chances are that they fall under the pain and suffering umbrella.
It is difficult for someone else to put themselves in your shoes to pay you what you deserve. Remarkably enough, the insurance companies do not even try to subjectively value your claim. From your standpoint, your own nightmarish experience that you have endured should be paid for in full. The truth is that the insurance company does not really care if you have not slept at night. You need a lawyer to make them care.
How the Insurance Company Tries to Lowball You
The insurance company is going to apply a multiplier to your medical bills to determine pain and suffering based on the severity of your accident and injuries. They have certain factors in mind when they decide what multiplier to use. For example, if they think that you have been injured in a slip and fall case, they may assign a lower multiplier than they would in a serious car accident case. This multiplier should pay you for past and future damages.
It is your job to argue how and why you have suffered in a way that shows your entitlement to pain and suffering damages. The insurance company will always undercount your damages to avoid paying you what you have deserved. You need to give the details and documentation to go along with your demand letter. This could include a journal that describes your experience and treatment notes from physicians. At the very minimum, you must overcome the insurance company’s reflexive use of a multiplier to pay you less.
Myrtle Beach Personal Injury Attorneys
The Myrtle Beach personal injury lawyers at The Maguire Law Firm could tell your story and fight for your legal rights if you have been injured in an accident. To schedule your free consultation, you can call us at (843) 438-5561 or contact us online. Let us go to work for you.