An individual injured because of another’s negligence may have the right to seek damages for a number of different losses. Certainly the economic damages, which are basically an accounting of the victim’s expenses and lost income, are much easier to quantify and reach a settlement on.
But the non-economic damages, like those that pay for the victim’s loss of enjoyment of life, his or her pain and suffering, and the impact of emotional damages are more often than not hotly contested and contentious. To help us better understand the place of pain and suffering in a personal injury claim, Jesse Soffer from The Soffer Firm explains it in more detail.
What Are Pain and Suffering Damages?
Damages for pain and suffering are compensation awarded to victims to pay for the physical pain and emotional distress an injured party has experienced. When juries assess these damages, they ask themselves what the particular individual has endured in terms of said pain and suffering and then arrive at a number that is commensurate with that person’s unique suffering.
Physical Pain and Suffering
This includes the actual physical discomfort and pain experienced due to an injury, as well as any future pain resulting from chronic conditions, surgeries, or ongoing treatments.
Emotional and Psychological Suffering
This covers mental suffering, nervousness, despair, post-traumatic stress disorder, and the loss of life’s usual pleasures as a result of the injury.
Factors Influencing Pain and Suffering Compensation
In contrast to economic damages, which have a set monetary value, pain and suffering damages do not. Jesse Soffer from The Soffer Firm tells us that instead, several factors come into play when courts and insurance companies work to assign a dollar amount to an individual’s suffering, including:
Severity of Injury
More severe injuries like spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injuries, or permanent disfigurement often result in more compensation due to the prolonged or lifelong suffering they cause.
Required Medical Treatment
Assessing pain and suffering requires considering not only the medical treatments the patient has undergone but also the length and intensity of those treatments. This may be things like multiple surgeries, extended and difficult rehab, and other factors.
Impact on Daily Life
If an injury stops someone from participating in and enjoying the activities they loved before the injury, affects their ability to work, or leads to a significant decline in their quality of life, the compensation may be higher.
Emotions and Psychological Effects
Severe anxiety, sadness or depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or other types of emotional trauma can bump up the amount that is given in damages.
Credibility of Claimant
If the medical records and health professional’s testimony are consistent, and if the plaintiff is credible (describing their pain and suffering in a manner consistent with the aforementioned), it can help tremendously in the final settlement.
Challenges in Proving Pain and Suffering
Because pain and suffering are experienced subjectively, it can be hard to prove just how extensive they are. That difficulty in proof often results in plaintiffs using the following methods of demonstration:
- Health care records
- Testimony from experts
- Private journals
- Statements from witnesses
Contact Jesse Soffer from The Soffer Firm for Any Help with Your Personal Injury Case
Compensating victims for the physical and emotional impacts of their injuries compensates them for the way the harm that was done has altered their lives. The difficulty is putting a hard, dollar figure on it.
When it comes to personal injury cases, pain and suffering damages are kind of a wild card. They fluctuate from case to case and even from juror to juror. They also represent an area of law that is evolving, inasmuch as courts are currently using several different methods to calculate them.
That’s why the best bet is to simply partner with a trustworthy and experienced legal representative to guide you through this convoluted and often confusing process.
