Claiming Pain and Suffering
In personal injury claims, people who have been injured by someone else’s negligent actions can recover pain and suffering compensation from the at-fault party’s insurance company in California. Personal injury claims consist of economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are those that have a financial value attached to them, so that isn’t too difficult to figure. Non-economic damages such as PTSD or anxiety have no set financial value, so it is established by an insurance company or your attorney and usually based on a formula.
Recovery of Pain and Suffering Compensation
Under California law, compensation can be recovered by an injured person for non-economic losses such as pain, mental and emotional suffering, anxiety, physical impairment, inconvenience, disfigurement and others.
Insurers Have Databases to Determine Your Pain and Suffering Compensation
Insurance companies may use different methods to reach an amount paid to an injured client for pain and suffering. Many have enormous databases about the amount of compensation they will offer an injured person. These can include different types of trauma, such as a brain injury and the length of the medical treatment.
You might be surprised to find out an insurance company can commonly put your injury information into their computer, which will quickly tell them how much your non-economic damages are worth. However, keep in mind the insurance company will want to save as much as possible because they are a business. For example:
- Not all injuries are treated equally. If you suffer a permanent disability such as paralysis from spinal cord damage, it will certainly be worth a great deal more in pain and suffering than if you had a temporary injury that healed in a short time.
- The longer your medical care, the higher the award for non-economic damages. Obviously, if you were in a hospital for a few days, the claim will be worth much less than someone who was hospitalized for several months.
- What physicians attended to your injury matters. Those who are treated by an orthopod will probably receive more compensation than someone who is seeing a chiropractor.
How Does Your Personal Injury Lawyer Help You Get This Compensation?
Personal injury lawyers use their own formulas to calculate pain and suffering. There are several ways a personal injury lawyer can calculate your damages. Once those damages have been calculated, the lawyer will send a demand letter to the insurance company for you to receive payment. Since the two amounts, the one from your attorney and the one from the insurance company, will undoubtedly be different, you need a hard-fighting, knowledgeable lawyer to negotiate to get the best outcome.
- In one way of calculating non-economic damages, all the economic expenses are added up. This includes your medical bills, lost wages and so forth. That number is then multiplied by a set amount, let’s say between 2 and 5 percent, depending on the seriousness of your injury.
- Another way the damages can be calculated is by assigning a dollar amount to each day of your injury from the time the accident occurred.
Personal Injury Attorneys in Sacramento
My name is Ed Smith, and I am a Sacramento personal injury attorney. Receiving compensation for your pain and suffering after an injury accident can make a big difference in the amount you receive at settlement. Having the right lawyer on your side who knows the ins and outs of the insurance industry and how to get you the maximum compensation is important to your future. Call us at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400 for our free and friendly advice, and find out how we might be able to help you. We can also be reached online.
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