When dealing with a personal injury case, it’s hard to put a pin on what a typical pain and suffering award amounts to. What we can do is share with you how an average pain and suffering settlement is calculated, and how to document pain and suffering. There are important steps to take to ensure that you receive your maximum award, which we will walk you through in this article. Step 1: get in touch with an experienced lawyer as early as you can.
Pain and suffering compensation is often awarded during a personal injury case. This award addresses the amount of hardship that someone has endured (physically and mentally) due to an accident. To achieve this, it’s important to know how to prove pain and suffering in court.
“Pain and suffering” includes both the physical injuries and emotional distress or trauma caused by an accident. Loss of daily function due to anything from a broken arm or whiplash to loss of sleep or PTSD can qualify as pain and suffering. To receive appropriate compensation, it’s important to document your experiences every day, starting as soon as you can.
A typical pain and suffering award varies greatly depending on the type of accident and injury. In general, the more severe the injury, the higher the award. Some cases can receive a few thousand dollars in a pain and suffering settlement, while others may receive hundreds of thousands or more. It’s difficult to state what the average pain and suffering settlement is, but an experienced lawyer will be able to give you an idea of the amount of compensation you may be entitled to based on the specifics of your accident.
Pain and suffering settlements are separate from medical bills. The physical injuries sustained during an accident do not always indicate what the award amount could be. Some cases will have very large medical bills, but do not qualify for a pain and suffering settlement. Other cases will have little to no medical bills but receive a very large pain and suffering award.
Determining pain and suffering is not an exact science, but there are two common methods that attorneys use to estimate damages caused by pain and suffering. These two methods are the Multiplier method and the Per Diem method. The Multiplier method totals up the amounts of damages incurred by an accident and multiplies it by a number typically between 1.5 and 5%, depending on the severity of the injury. The Per Diem method determines the daily financial loss someone has experienced due to their accident.