The legal phrase “pain and suffering” refers to injuries a victim suffers that impacts their quality of life. Pain and suffering damages are not easy to calculate or measure, as they are more subjective and complex than straight-forward damages like medical bills or lost wages due to missed work.
There is no fixed amount of money that can make up for pain and suffering damages that directly affect your quality of life after an accident. However, settlements that involve pain and suffering often pay out significantly, especially when serious physical injuries occurred.
Types of Pain and Suffering Damages You Can Claim
Pain and suffering settlements can vary widely depending on the nature of an accident, the degree of injuries the victim suffered, and other factors related to the victim’s life. There are generally two categories of pain and suffering cases:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Mental/emotional pain and suffering
Physical Pain and Suffering
This is the easiest damage to point to and demonstrate: it’s the pain you experience from your actual physical injuries. But physical pain and suffering take into account not only the pain and discomfort you’re living with now, but also any pain and detriments you’re likely to suffer in the future because of the at-fault party’s negligence.
Some injuries can have long-lasting, even chronic effects that leave you debilitated and hurt. Pain and suffering compensation is designed to acknowledge and compensate those factors as well.
Mental Pain and Suffering
In addition to your physical injuries, some of the damages you suffer may go beyond physical pain. Mental and emotional pain and suffering includes damages like:
- Emotional distress
- Mental anguish
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Anxiety, depression, fear, anger, or mood swings
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Shock
- Loss of appetite or lack of energy
- Sleep disturbances
Any type of negative emotion you’re dealing with as a result of the incident that injured you can be considered emotional or mental pain and suffering. This also includes any mental or emotional harms you’re likely to suffer in the future because of your injuries.
Common Pain and Suffering Settlement Examples
The following are brief examples of instances in which pain and suffering may be factored into a personal injury settlement:
- A car accident victim suffers whiplash and a concussion. Because of these injuries, the victim can no longer exercise as they did before, which prevents them from training and participating in a triathlon they had been preparing for all year. The victim suffers from unhappiness, depression, and frustration at missing the triathlon.
- A truck accident leaves a victim with a visible scar on their face that they’ll have for the rest of their life. This leads to emotional distress and constant feelings of embarrassment.
- A man is involved in a serious pedestrian accident and left with several broken bones. Because of his injuries, the victim becomes depressed and experiences loss of appetite and sleeping problems.
In other cases, the victim could be prevented from returning to their job due to their mental or emotional state even after they’ve recovered from their physical injuries. This may force them to adjust to a new occupation that better suits their situation.
Alternatively, they could end up unable to work at all. They could also miss out on important activities or events in life (such as birthday parties, their children’s school activities, etc.), lose their quality of life, or have trouble maintaining personal relationships.
Each of these situations represent harms that were caused by the at-fault party’s negligence or actions. Thus, they should all be considered when determining an appropriate amount of compensation for the injured person.
What Is a Pain and Suffering Multiplier?
A personal injury lawyer will often measure your pain and suffering damages through a multiplier method. Your lawyer will multiply these damages with other accident costs using a number that most accurately represents the severity of your injuries.
Insurance companies often use this method to calculate pain and suffering damages to gauge the severity of your pain and suffering as it relates to your general damages with a multiplier of 1.5 to 5.
Since these calculations can be so subjective, it’s important to work with a lawyer who understands pain and suffering cases and can seek the most accurate and substantial recovery for your suffering.
Caps and Limits on Pain and Suffering Damages
In some states, victims of injuries are limited in the amount they can seek for their pain and suffering. While these caps may be well-intentioned to avoid frivolously high payouts, they often end up forcing injured people to settle for less than they truly deserve.
Luckily, Georgia does not limit pain and suffering compensation. As your Atlanta personal injury attorneys, our team is free to argue for as much compensation as you need to cover the harms you’ve endured.
Factors That Could Lower Your Settlement Amount
One crucial reason to get help from a skilled Atlanta personal injury attorney is to ensure that you get the full value of your compensation. Perhaps the most important factor that could potentially lower your settlement or jury award is fault.
Georgia uses a theory known as comparative negligence when determining compensation. This means your compensation is reduced by the percentage of fault attributed to you for your injury. If you’re 10% at fault, for example, the amount of money you can sue for is also reduced by 10%.
Attorneys can help you find and present evidence of the other person or organization’s fault for your injury, including:
- The official police report of your accident
- Nearby traffic or surveillance camera footage of the event
- Your medical records
- Testimony from eyewitnesses
- Testimony from accident reconstruction experts
- Testimony from your family and friends regarding your pain and suffering
- Photos and videos of the injury scene
This evidence, properly used, can lower your portion of blame for the injury, thereby increasing the amount of compensation you can receive.
Determining Whether You Have a Pain and Suffering Claim
If you were injured in a personal injury accident, you can potentially make a pain and suffering claim. But pain and suffering damages are easier to claim if you have injuries that are more serious. Courts and insurance companies are more likely to recognize serious injuries as impacting your quality of life and causing you great degrees of pain.
Get in touch with a personal injury lawyer in Atlanta who understands pain and suffering damages and can help you determine whether you have a potential claim.
Talk to an Atlanta Pain and Suffering Claim Lawyer for Free
If you were injured in an accident, you may be able to pursue a pain and suffering settlement. Our attorneys know what courts and insurance companies are looking for when they approve pain and suffering damages.
For a FREE consultation with one of our attorneys to look at your own case, contact us today. Call us or complete the form to your right for your free consultation.
