How Do Lawyers Calculate Pain and Suffering?

When you file a personal injury claim, the insurance company will first consider the actual financial losses you sustained in the accident: property damage, lost wages, and medical bills, for example. However, your claim will often include non-financial losses you may have sustained in the accident as well.

You may have lost more than money due to the negligent party’s careless actions. You may have suffered a great deal of physical pain or gone through immense emotional anguish as you managed the aftermath of the accident. To claim compensation for those non-financial losses, you may include pain and suffering in your insurance claim. Doing so can allow you to receive compensation for the suffering you faced following your accident.

Calculating pain and suffering damages, however, can prove incredibly complex.

How Insurance Companies Calculate Pain and Suffering

Insurance companies usually have a formula for calculating pain and suffering after an accident. They start with a review of your actual medical expenses. Then, in many cases, they use a predetermined formula to establish how much compensation you deserve for non-financial losses. The formula varies between insurance companies. In many cases, however, the insurance company’s approach results in only a small percentage of the compensation you may be entitled to for losses you sustained during the accident.

You may find yourself losing out on much of the compensation you deserve for your accident if you only rely on an insurance company’s calculations to determine how much compensation for pain and suffering you should receive.

How a Lawyer Calculates Pain and Suffering

A lawyer will typically take a more personal look at your case than an insurance adjuster. Unlike the insurance company, the lawyer works to maximize your interests and ensure that the compensation you receive reflects the actual damages and suffering you have faced due to your accident. A lawyer will consider several elements that may contribute to your overall suffering following a severe accident.

In the past, both lawyers and insurance companies used one of two methods to determine how much compensation the plaintiff could recover for pain and suffering. These methods are called the multiplier method and the per diem method.

The Multiplier Method

Some lawyers use the multiplier method to determine how much compensation accident victims should recover for pain and suffering. The multiplier method starts with the actual financial damages the injured party suffered. Then, the lawyer multiples the actual losses by a fixed number. The lawyer may use a fixed number ranging from 1.5 times the financial damages the victim has suffered up to a higher amount: infrequently, around four times those damages. The result is the amount they will help you request in your claim for compensation for pain and suffering.

The Per Diem Method

Rather than using the multiplier method, some lawyers use the per diem method to calculate how much compensation a victim might claim for pain and suffering. With this method, the lawyer will multiply a fixed number by the number of days it took the victim to reach the maximum recovery.

What Factors Does a Lawyer Consider?

There is no cut and dried formula for a lawyer to calculate pain and suffering. Most lawyers use a mathematical formula to determine the size of their client’s compensation claim for pain and suffering. However, a lawyer may use their judgment to determine the size of the claim. They may consider factors like the extent of the client’s suffering and injuries.

#1. What injuries did you suffer?

Many lawyers will consider what injuries you suffered in the accident. Substantial injuries bring considerably higher overall medical bills, and they can also cause more suffering and complications to your life. For example, if you suffered a traumatic brain injury, you may find yourself dealing with more challenges than if you suffered broken bones in the accident.

#2. How severe are your injuries?

Injuries range in severity even injuries of the same type. A victim who suffers a broken leg that does not require surgery, for example, might have a much shorter road to recovery than a victim who suffers a broken leg that requires surgery. Similarly, someone who suffers a complete spinal cord injury may deal with lifelong paralysis. In contrast, a victim with an incomplete spinal cord injury might experience only a minor decrease in mobility and might have better odds of recovering over time.

Your lawyer may review your medical records, any notes your doctor made about your injury, and go over the time you spent in recovery. Your medical history can help show how much you have suffered due to the injuries you sustained in your accident.

#3. How long did you have to spend in recovery?

Even if your lawyer does not use the per diem method to calculate the compensation you may deserve for pain and suffering, they may still want to know how long you spent in recovery. A long road to recovery can mean considerably more suffering over time than an injury that has a relatively short recovery time.

Suppose, for example, that a person suffered a traumatic brain injury in the accident. They worked diligently in recovery, including working with an occupational therapist. Within three months, they made a full recovery, with their cognitive ability returning to normal. Another patient, on the other hand, might have worked equally diligently but struggled with the symptoms of traumatic brain injury for more than a year after the accident. That patient might deserve more compensation for their long-term pain and suffering, even though, on the surface, the two victims suffered relatively similar injuries.

Because the duration of your suffering can factor into your claim, your lawyer may recommend waiting until you have a good idea of what your recovery will look like and how long it will likely take before moving forward with a personal injury claim. Working closely with your lawyer can help you determine precisely how you might need to handle your claim.

#4. What limitations did you suffer because of your injuries?

In determining the compensation you should claim for pain and suffering, your lawyer may assess what type of suffering you faced due to the accident. Each patient’s challenges differ because everyone’s lifestyle, hobbies, and independence levels are different.

Take Jack, for example. Jack runs every morning before work to help boost his overall mental health. He participates in martial arts classes twice a week, every week, and considers the people there like his family. When Jack has a car accident that results in multiple broken bones, he finds he can’t engage in his favorite activities for weeks. He feels bored, irritable and notices an increase in overall depression due to the enforced lack of exercise. Long-term, he realizes that he can no longer run due to his injuries, and he has to limit his martial arts activities for months or even years after the accident. He may not be able to care for himself without help.

Roger, on the other hand, leads a relatively sedentary lifestyle. His favorite hobbies include playing video games and checking out the latest superhero movie at the movie theater. He might suffer injuries similar to Jack’s in an accident. However, because he did not engage in high-impact sports or activities before the accident, his lifestyle may have changed differently than Jack’s because of the accident. Roger can’t sit for long periods at the movie theater or play video games, or he may need help caring for his daily needs. In this way, Jack’s and Roger’s injuries affected them differently, even though their injuries were substantially similar.

#5. Did you lose independence because of your accident?

Loss of independence represents a substantial loss for many people after a severe accident. Many people cannot manage essential self-care while recovering from their injuries. In some cases, they may suffer a permanent loss of independence. They may require ongoing assistance from caregivers at home or an in-home care provider who comes in regularly to help with self-care tasks. Those losses can pose immense emotional problems for many accident victims.

Consider George, for example. George suffered back injuries in his accident that prevent him from taking care of himself. His wife drives him where he needs to go since he can no longer do so independently. George, who exercised a high level of independence most of his life, finds the loss of his ability to drive to be devastating.

#6. Did you suffer direct emotional distress, potentially including a diagnosis of depression, anxiety, or PTSD, after an accident?

Dealing with the aftermath of a severe accident can leave you suffering from serious emotional disorders. Trauma can trigger depression, anxiety, or PTSD, as can the challenges of recovery after the fact. You may have already included the cost of psychological treatment as part of your personal injury claim. However, talk to your lawyer about the direct emotional challenges you may have faced after the accident.

Did anxiety prevent you from getting out of the house? Does it make it difficult for you to get into a vehicle or enter certain areas? Does PTSD make it difficult for you to sleep? Make sure you share that information with your lawyer so they can include it in the calculation of how much compensation you should claim for pain and suffering.

How Working With a Lawyer Can Benefit Your Claim for Pain and Suffering

When an insurance company calculates pain and suffering in your claim, the insurance company will often make its calculations using the base formula. On the other hand, a lawyer takes a more personal approach to calculating pain and suffering and providing you with more information.

A lawyer looks at all the suffering you have faced after your accident.

A lawyer does not simply look at spreadsheets but looks at you as a person. Often, the lawyer’s approach can help give you a better idea of exactly how much you have lost because of your accident. It may also help provide you with a better blueprint to claim compensation.

A lawyer can help you calculate what funds you need to help you rebuild your life.

Compensation for pain and suffering can provide you with additional funds above the amount of your direct financial losses. It can offer you funds that help you rebuild your life, whether you need to go back to school, obtain a new certification, or start looking into a new hobby.

Compensation for pain and suffering can help you make modifications to your home or vehicle that might help make you more comfortable, even if you cannot include those expenses under the direct medical costs you faced after your accident. A lawyer can help you calculate how much you need to help you move forward in those areas.

If you suffered serious injuries in your accident, a lawyer may estimate how much compensation you might deserve for pain and suffering. Talking with a lawyer can make it easier for you to pursue pain and suffering as part of your claim. Contact a lawyer as soon as possible to learn more.