When you are in an accident that wasn’t your fault then you are entitled to compensation. You are almost certainly going to get money for your medical expenses and even missed wages from your recovery. Then, there is the damage to your vehicle. However, what about pain and suffering? A good semi-truck accident lawyer is going to push the court to give you compensation for pain and suffering you had from an accident as well.
The problem is that it is not easy to convince a judge that you should get compensation for these things. Often, they feel that getting paid for damages, medical expenses, and lost wages is going to be enough to satisfy them. When you are the victim of an accident, however, you surely believe that you deserve more. In this article, we will go over what suing for pain and suffering entails.
What qualifies as pain and suffering?
Pain is something that is going to be experienced after an accident. The question is how long it lasts. If you are in pain and recovering then you will be paid for the missed wages during the recovery but not necessarily for the pain you experience during that time.
Some examples would be a back injury, brain trauma, and broken bones that are not healed properly.
There is an emotional side as well. Some people end up with lasting psychological effects from the accident. PTSD is very common, for example. Mental anguish is very common since an accident is not just damaging to the body. Very often, there are nightmares that are recurring because of the nature of the accident.
How it’s calculated
Every case is different so it’s not really possible to put an average number on how much the compensation can be for pain and suffering lawsuits. What can be done is to give an idea of how the number is calculated so you can get an idea of what to expect.
There are two primary methods of calculating how much pain and suffering cases should be calculated. The first is the multiplier method. There is a number between 1 and 5 assigned to each case depending on the severity of the injury. Each number represents the multiple that should be applied to the amount of compensation for the loss of wages and the cost of the medical bills.
For example, if somebody had minor injuries that linger on for a short time, then the number will be given a 1 which means that they are entitled only to compensation for the damages incurred. The greater the injuries the higher the number. If somebody will have lasting physical and emotional effects then the highest number is five times what they last in wages and other damages.
The second method for calculating the amount they will receive is a per diem system. This gives a dollar amount for every day from the day of the accident until it is determined that there will be no further medical improvements expected.
