What is ‘Pain and Suffering’ in a Personal Injury Case?

Most of you have already heard the term ‘pain and suffering’, but some of you may not know how it is a key component of a personal injury case. What it means and how it is defined from a legal perspective. Moreover, how pain and suffering are calculated under insurance claims? This article will cover the answers to these questions.

What are Pain and Suffering?

When you go through physical pain due to injury, you feel the mental pain as well because you are not the same as before. The injuries take both emotional and physical toll and give you pain. The term ‘Pain and suffering’ refer to both physical and mental pain associated with injury. Pain and suffering include the discomfort, affliction, and aches that you suffer because of the injury caused by someone’s carelessness. According to personal injury lawyers Stockport, ‘pain and suffering' are of two types.

1. Physical pain and suffering: The actual physical injuries and detrimental effects that a person will suffer in the future.
2. Mental pain and suffering: The trauma as a result of physical injury. It includes anxiety, emotional distress, humiliation, anger and shock.

Pain and Suffering in a Personal Injury Case

In personal injury cases, the injured person will be entitled to compensation for his damages. The loss is of two types:

economic loss: medical bills, income loss and other expenses.

non-economic loss: personal effects of an accident or resulting injuries on physical and mental health.   

The type of injury and the medical treatment are the two factors that determine the degree of your pain and suffering. Big loss and heavy medical bills will result in more compensation, whereas the less damage won’t be much more than nominal.                    

Calculating Pain and Suffering

For calculating the value of pain and suffering, the insurance company uses a complicated software program to make a standard offer. However, there are few other ways that lawsuits use to determine the value of pain and suffering. Some of the standard ways are:

The Multiplier Method

This method involves calculating a rough amount based on the economic loss, such as medical bills. The method involves counting up all the expenses and applying a multiplier to figure out the value.

The Per Diem Method

This method involves placing a dollar value on each day of pain and suffering. The total number of days are counted to calculate the total money one can claim.

The legal team will gather the evidence to help you negotiate a favourable resolution with the other party before the arrival of trial dates.

Conclusion

According to law, if you had an injury or an accident due to the negligence of someone, it is important to determine the fair amount of compensation for pain and suffering in a personal injury case. In most cases, the people with no legal knowledge are unfamiliar with this concept. In such cases, it is important to consult a trustworthy and experienced attorney for help.