How are Pain and Suffering Damages Calculated?

In a personal injury case, you may be entitled to compensation, particularly if someone else was negligent and caused your injuries. Calculating economic damages is fairly simple;  you just add up the expenses, such as medical bills and lost wages. 

Most accidents involve some degree of pain and suffering. These are considered general damages and can vary as they are unique to each victim. Calculating how much money you should receive for these emotional damages, though, is not an easy task. It is not easy to put a dollar amount on how much pain and suffering you have experienced. However, insurance companies and lawyers will typically use one of two approaches — the multiplier method or the daily rate (per diem) method. 

The multiplier method takes into account all your economic damages and multiplies it by a number between 1.5 and 5. Five would be for the most severe injuries, while 1.5 would be for more minor, temporary injuries. The per diem method takes into account how many days you are in pain and multiplies it by a daily rate. The daily rate may vary, but it should be the amount of money you would have earned at your job if you went to work each day. This method works best with short-term injuries, not permanent ones. 

What Factors Are Involved?

The method you will use to arrive at a figure for pain and suffering will be determined by your lawyer. Your lawyer will assess your injuries in more detail to see how much money you should be awarded. Some of the factors involved in determining the amount of damages to be awarded include:

• Severity of the injury. The more serious an injury is, the more likely it is that the victim will be awarded more compensation for damages.
• Duration of the pain and suffering. How long has the pain lasted? If the victim has experienced pain and suffering for a longer period of time, they will likely receive a higher amount of damages.
• Impact on daily life. Your lawyer will assess how the injury has impacted your ability to perform daily activities, such as work and household tasks. If the impact is significant, then you will receive more money for your damages.
• Age and health. A young victim who was in good health but suffered a permanent injury will likely be impacted more than a victim who is an elderly person with pre-existing conditions. Therefore, they will likely receive more compensation.

Contact Us Today

While economic damages, such as medical bills and lost wages, are fairly easy to calculate,  emotional injuries are much harder. Lawyers often use multipliers and formulas to estimate the damages.

The Arizona personal injury attorneys at Saavedra Law Firm can help you estimate damages and obtain full compensation after being injured by someone else’s negligence. Call (602) 753-8917 or fill out the online form to schedule a consultation.