The term “pain and suffering” rolls off peoples’ tongues as if everyone knows what it means. It is a legal term that represents a particular category of damage—it is the emotional distress endured as a result of a third party’s negligent acts. Emotional distress covers a wide range of adverse effects, including emotional or psychological trauma, loss of consortium (i.e. the ability to have sexual relations with your spouse or partner), actual pain, depression, anxiety, and insomnia.
If you have sustained an injury as a result of an accident, you must hire experienced counsel to help you attain your fair share of compensation for your pain and suffering. Barrett Law has the experience to help you if you have been injured. Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.
There are Two Categories of Pain and Suffering:
The experience of pain and suffering depends on the individual experiencing it. The measuring stick for that experience is how the injuries affected the harmed person’s emotional well-being and lifestyle. Pain and suffering falls into two categories:
Current Pain and Suffering—this is the emotional pain that you endure beginning with the injury until some end point. Because it has an endpoint, it can be measured.
Current and Future Pain and Suffering—this is the emotional pain you endure beginning with the injury, through medical treatment and therapy, and into the future indefinitely. Because its endpoint is undetermined, it more difficult to measure
When you and your attorney calculate your settlement demand for pain and suffering, you must determine the category of pain and suffering yours falls into. If your suffering was limited to the time between the injury and completion of treatment, your demand would be lower, as it is finite. If it continues into the indefinite future, your request will be higher because there is no definitive way of knowing when it will end.
How Attorneys and Insurance Adjusters Calculate Pain and Suffering
The standard method of calculating pain and suffering is to use a multiple of your actual costs. These actual costs include your therapy bills, medical bills, out-of-pocket expenses, lost wages, and any property damage. Taken together, these knowable, actual costs are known as “special damages.” Less easy to define is pain and suffering, which is referred to as “general damages.”
Computing special damages is a straightforward task—you add up all your bills and receipts. That said, deriving a figure that fairly and accurately represents your pain and suffering always poses a challenge. This is particularly difficult because the insurance adjuster that is tasked with fighting your claim wants to minimize your pain and suffering.
Personal injury attorneys and insurance adjusters calculate pain and suffering reimbursement using the “multiple” method. To do this, they take the total dollar value of your special damages and multiply that amount by one to five times. In severe, debilitating cases, the multiplier may be even higher. A case’s multiplier will depend upon the severity of pain, the duration of pain, the type of pain and discomfort, and your attorney’s ability to persuade the adjuster.
I tell clients frequently that they cannot just demand a king’s ransom for their pain and suffering and expect the insurance adjuster to agree to it. The insurance adjuster’s job is to say “no.” Instead, with the help of a skilled personal injury attorney, you must provide evidence justifying the requested amount along with a reasonable argument. If you fail to provide both, the insurance adjuster will reject your demand.
What Should You Do If You or a Loved One Has Been Injured?
If you or a loved one was injured, you will need the help of an experienced personal injury attorney to recover compensation for your pain and suffering, along with the other damages you are due. This is my specialty. Let me take care of organizing your bills, attaining statements from expert witnesses, and dealing with the other party’s attorneys. These are just a few of the critical, complex tasks that a personal injury attorney will handle for you while you concentrate on healing and getting back on your feet again.
Call Barrett Law now, an experienced Mississippi personal injury law firm, to represent you if you have suffered an injury. Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.
