How to Calculate Pain and Suffering in a Wilmington Personal Injury Case

If you were injured due to someone else’s negligence in Wilmington, you are likely wondering how to calculate pain and suffering in a Wilmington personal injury case. With the help of a personal injury lawyer, you can be compensated for a range of factors, including pain and suffering.

The settlement you receive can help you recover physically and emotionally from the traumatic event that caused your personal injury.

Understanding Compensation for Pain and Suffering

Following a severe personal injury, many victims experience pain and suffering. Studies have found that upward of 46% of people in car accidents experience some level of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Emotional, mental, and physical pain from the injury and its lingering effects can lead to depression, insomnia, grief, anxiety, PTSD, and other sources of anguish that make normal daily activities and work difficult, if not impossible. Pain and suffering can often be worse than the initial catastrophic injury.

Many people are aware that they can seek compensation for lost wages and medical bills. In North Carolina, injury victims who are suffering from the lingering effects of a serious injury may also be entitled to pain and suffering compensation.

Plaintiffs can seek non-economic damages for pain and suffering with the help of a personal injury lawyer. This form of compensation can be challenging to quantify, but an experienced personal injury lawyer can use established methods to accurately calculate the value of your suffering. Non-economic damages can include these and other factors.

• Emotional distress. Mental anxiety and psychological harm can lead to short-term or chronic depression, sleep disturbances, and other psychological conditions. Injured people often have uncontrollable flashbacks to the day of the accident.
• Loss of enjoyment. The loss of enjoyment can be a serious and life-altering consequence of an injury. When being disfigured or disabled means that you are no longer able to do the things you once loved, you can be compensated for that loss.
• Loss of consortium. Loss of consortium refers to the loss of companionship with a loved one at the level you were once able to experience. One example would be a spouse who loses the close companionship of a romantic partner or spouse due to the physical injury suffered from the accident.

Although some of these concepts may seem somewhat abstract, there are plenty of examples of injured personal injury victims seeking and receiving compensation for pain and suffering.

Common Methods Used to Calculate Pain and Suffering

There is no official “pain and suffering” calculator. Each attorney brings their own experience and methodology to calculate the value of your mental and physical anguish. Some methods are more common than others, though. Two frequently used methods for estimating the value of your pain and suffering are the multiplier method and the per diem method.

The multiplier method uses your medical bills and lost wages as the baseline for non-economic damages. The idea is that higher medical bills reasonably translate to greater hardship and physical pain. Those expenses are then multiplied by a numeric factor based on the severity of non-economic damages like pain and suffering.

The per diem method calculates daily compensation for pain and suffering based on factors like daily earnings, duration of suffering, and medical needs until recovery. Factors influencing pain and suffering settlements include:

• The severity of the defendant’s negligence.
• The extent of the injury.
• Medical needs.
• Daily impact on your life.
• Harm to your mental health.
• Employment status.
• Personal relationships.

Any formula for estimating pain and suffering should result in figures that have been paid out in similar cases in the past. An experienced personal injury lawyer can rely on experience and research into similar past cases when coming up with a figure that the courts will find reasonable.

FAQs

Q: How Are Pain and Suffering Calculated in North Carolina?

A: Pain and suffering are calculated through different formulas that quantify the value of a plaintiff’s mental anguish and physical pain that resulted from a personal injury. Just as plaintiffs have the right to be compensated for financial losses, they also have the right to pursue compensation for the pain they suffered following a personal injury.

Q: How Do You Measure Pain and Suffering?

A: Personal injury attorneys rely on formulas that take into account the extent of the injury and the impact on their quality of life and multiply that figure by the number of days those factors negatively impacted the plaintiff’s life. Two common formulas include the multiplier method and the per diem method.

Q: What Is the Typical Total for Pain and Suffering?

A: The total compensation varies widely from case to case and is based on several factors, including the type and extent of injury, emotional harm endured by the plaintiff, loss of quality of life, and other factors.

Your lawyer can review your case and similar past cases to make sure that you receive the compensation that you are lawfully entitled to. Compensation for pain and suffering can significantly increase the value of your settlement.

Q: Can My Settlement Include Pain and Suffering?

A: Many serious injuries lead to physical pain and mental harm. If your injury had lasting negative effects on your life and personal relationships, you can consult with a personal injury attorney.

They can review your case, take notes about your personal injury and its lasting effect, and provide advice and insights into how your settlement could include compensation for your pain and suffering.

Q: What Is a Fair Settlement Offer?

A: A fair settlement offer compensates you for your financial and non-monetary losses. You are not required to accept less than what fairly compensates you for your injuries. Your personal injury lawyer can be a trusted source of advice and counsel when it comes to reviewing a settlement offer. In many cases, you can be compensated for your pain and suffering.

Schedule Your Pain and Suffering Consultation Today

You may be eligible to receive compensation for non-monetary damages from the at-fault party. Maximizing your settlement requires a personal injury lawyer who has experience calculating the value of non-monetary damages.

Christina Rivenbark & Associates has the professional experience to calculate the value of your pain and suffering when estimating the value of your settlement. To schedule your pain and suffering consultation, contact our office today.