How To Calculate Pain and Suffering After a Car Accident
Anyone would feel grateful to survive a car wreck, but the physical pain and emotional distress that comes with it could serve as the basis for a personal injury suit. If you’re seeking damages after a collision, an experienced Wisconsin personal injury attorney will recognize the strategic methods insurance companies use for determining payouts. Learn how to calculate pain and suffering after a car accident in this brief guide.
Understanding Economic vs. Non-Economic Damages
During insurance settlement negotiations, personal injury attorneys will bring up their client’s concrete, accident-related expenses to fight for a certain amount in economic damages. These costs may include:
- Necessary vehicle repairs due to collision damage
- Medical bills
- Lost wages if their injury renders them unable to work
- Funeral expenses in the case of a wrongful death
What about someone’s pain and suffering? These are considered non-economic damages because they don’t feature any trackable receipts but nonetheless remain a focus in personal injury cases. When it comes to knowing how to calculate pain and suffering, car accident lawyers and insurers have a few different methods they can use.
Insurers Assign an Amount Using the Multiplier Method
Property damage, lost wages, and medical expenses factor into one’s special damages, meaning those you can calculate. Depending on the extent of a victim’s injuries, insurance companies will multiply the total economic damages by a figure between two and five to account for less quantifiable damages. Severe injuries, such as amputation or permanent disability, typically yield the highest multiplier and lead to larger settlements in light of their life-altering effects.
Per Diem Calculations Cater to Short-Term Pain and Suffering
Say you experience whiplash after a fender bender. By the time you launch your case and reach settlement negotiations, your whiplash symptoms subside. How much could you recover for your injury?
In cases like these, insurers may use a per diem calculation to assign a dollar amount for every day you experienced the effects of your injury.
Non-Economic Damages May Depend on a Liability and Fault Assessment
Personal injury lawyers gather sufficient evidence to support their clients and prove that other motorists are at fault in car accident cases. However, if a victim is found partially at fault, it could impact the amount of damages they can recover.
Imagine two cars colliding at an intersection due to one driver running a red light while the motorist they hit was texting while driving. Insurers might determine that the distracted driver is 20% at fault while the one who missed the red light carries 80% of the fault.
Based on this determination, victims miss out on payment according to their fault percentage. For example, if the total settlement amount is $100,000 but the victim is 20% at fault, their total payout would only be $80,000.
Consult an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney for Car Accident Damages
At Novitzke, Gust, Sempf, Whitley & Bergmanis, our attorneys know how to calculate pain and suffering after a car accident and fight for you. We have years of experience and have recovered more than $40 million for our clients. Call 888-596-6049 for a free legal consultation.
