Personal injury accidents can impact your life in many ways. They do not just create medical expenses and cause you to miss work; they also lead to significant physical and emotional pain. Those damages should be accounted for in your personal injury claim alongside actual monetary damages.
Pain and suffering is a non-economic damage that injury victims often claim in lawsuits. Learn how to calculate pain and suffering in your case, then consult a trip-and-fall lawyer in NYC for more personalized legal guidance.
What Is Pain and Suffering in Personal Injury Cases?
“Pain and suffering” is the term for the physical and emotional pain a personal injury accident has caused you. Instead of seeking compensation for just the quantifiable monetary expenses you incurred from the accident, you may seek non-economic damages that reflect the impact the accident had on your life that cannot be assigned a specific price tag.
Personal injury accidents can lead to significant physical and emotional consequences. You may be experiencing broken bones, nerve damage, bruising, lacerations, and other injuries that cause you pain every day. The stress and trauma of the accident can lead to psychological concerns like depression, generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD, poor sleep quality, and much more.
When you pursue compensation from the party negligent in your accident case, you may be able to factor pain and suffering into the total value of your damages. Knowing how to calculate pain and suffering can help you determine how much this damage might be worth in your case and what you could realistically seek from the defendant.
Common Methods of Calculating Pain and Suffering
There is no definitive method of calculating pain and suffering or other non-economic damages. Generally, this damage is tied to the severity of your injuries; more severe injuries often lead to higher values of pain and suffering damages.
Below are two common methods of estimating pain and suffering damages in court. Your attorney might use either of these methods to calculate your damages in a premises liability or other personal injury lawsuit.
The Multiplier Method
The multiplier method involves multiplying the value of your economic damages by a number between 1 and 5 that correlates with the severity of your injuries. The resulting figure would be the value of your non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering.
For example, perhaps your personal injury accident left you with $10,000 in medical bills. Your injury is severe and will prevent you from working for several months. Your attorney might use a multiplier of 3, meaning you would claim $30,000 in non-economic damages.
The Per Diem Method
While the multiplier method is the more common approach, some attorneys prefer to use the per diem method instead, especially for long-lasting injuries. This method assigns a daily value to the pain and suffering you experienced from the accident. In this way, your non-economic damages would seek to account for every day that you were in pain.
For example, perhaps you estimate that your pain and suffering is worth $50 per day, and it took you approximately a year to fully recover from injuries after surgery and physical therapy. You would multiply that $50 figure by 365 days, leaving you with $18,250 in non-economic damages.
For injuries that are not fully recoverable, you might use the number of days needed to reach maximum medical improvement, at which point you are not expected to heal further.
Is There a Cap on Pain and Suffering Damages in New York?
Some states place a cap on the value of non-economic damages you could be awarded in a personal injury case. In New York, there is generally no cap on pain and suffering damages, allowing juries to award the full value of your compensation claim.
If your injuries are severe, your settlement value could be steep to reflect both the economic and non-economic damages you endured from the accident. An experienced personal injury law firm in New York can help you to calculate pain and suffering damages that accurately reflect your injuries.
Is Pain and Suffering Calculated Separately From Other Non-Economic Damages?
In a personal injury case, non-economic damages are generally grouped together. The pain and suffering multiplier method or per diem methods above could be used to calculate your non-economic damages as a whole.
However, the more non-economic damages you can prove in your case, the greater your potential for a significant payout. Aside from pain and suffering, you might claim damages such as:
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
Consult a New York Personal Injury Lawyer
Personal injury accidents can happen to anyone at any time. As many as 6,500 people are injured in motor vehicle accidents on average each day. Approximately 5,000 fatal work injuries happen in the U.S. each year, and some figures estimate that over 250,000 people die from medical errors annually.
While seeking compensation cannot turn back the clock, it can make the process of moving forward after a serious injury a bit easier. At Ross & Hill, we represent clients across New York City through a range of personal injury cases. Let us help you seek fair compensation that reflects the toll this incident has taken on your life.
Learn the differences between premises liability and personal injury, then contact us today at 646-351-6222 for a 100% free consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a formula for calculating pain and suffering?
There are a few formulas commonly used for pain and suffering damages calculations, but New York courts do not adhere to one specific formula.
What is the statute of limitations for personal injury in New York?
The statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits in New York is generally three years from the accident date.
Do you have to file a separate lawsuit for pain and suffering?
No, you can seek both economic damages and non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, in the same personal injury lawsuit. Your personal injury attorney can guide you through this process.
