Pain and suffering is a commonly claimed non-economic damage in a personal injury claim. It refers to the physical discomfort and emotional distress you experience as a result of your accident and its associated injuries. Nobody other than you can feel the magnitude of your lingering agony, and so it may be difficult for others, like the Florida civil court, to place a price on this intangible damage. Rest assured, there is an observed method for computing it. With that being said, please follow along to find out how to calculate your incurred pain and suffering for your personal injury claim, and how a proficient Pasco County personal injury lawyer at Merricks Law Group, P.A., can help you get the fair amount you deserve.
How is the cost of pain and suffering calculated in a personal injury claim?
When you employ a lawyer to assist in your personal injury claim, they may introduce you to the multiplier method to calculate your non-economic damages, like pain and suffering. Essentially, the multiplier method first adds up all your claimed economic damages, such as your medical bills and lost wages, which have a fixed price attributed to them. Then, it takes a factor between one and five and multiplies it by the cost of your economic damages.
For example, if your current and future economic damages are approximated to cost you $100,000, and your designated multiplier is one, you may cite an additional $100,000 for pain and suffering. If your assigned multiplier is five, though, you may be set up to collect an extra $500,000 if you succeed. Now, the multiplier you get is strictly based on the seriousness of your known injuries and how severely they impact and diminish your quality of life.
What can I do to increase the factor used in the multiplier method for my claim?
Of course, if you personally believe the extremity of your pain and suffering is equivalent to the factor of five, you may want to get your multiplier as high as possible for your claim. This may require you to catalogue extensive evidence that your incurred injuries are that much more critical. Specific examples of such evidence may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Photos of your visible injuries at the scene or immediately after your personal injury accident.
- Medical records of the diagnoses, procedures, and treatment plans you have received for your injuries thus far.
- Testimony by a medical expert that explains how these injuries typically affect one’s overall health and daily life.
- A personal journal of the physical discomfort and emotional distress you experience daily since your accident date.
- Statements by your loved ones that cover how your personality and outlook on life have significantly shifted since your accident.
As soon as you find yourself in potential legal trouble, you must retain representation and advisement from a talented Pasco County personal injury lawyer from Merricks Law Group, P.A. You should not have to put up this fight alone; we are here to help you.