How Is Pain & Suffering Calculated in Personal Injury Cases?

If someone else injures you through their negligence or misconduct, you may have legal grounds to demand compensation for your tangible expenses, such as your medical bills and lost wages. But you can also file a claim to cover your non-tangible losses, like your pain and suffering. Unlike losses with clear dollar amounts, you will need to perform some complex calculations to figure out the amount you deserve for your pain and suffering. Let our personal injury attorneys at The Cassidy Law Firm LLC walk you through the process.

How Do You Define Pain and Suffering in Legal Terms?

In personal injury law, “pain and suffering” refers to the physical discomfort and emotional distress you experience due to an injury, which can include both the immediate pain from the injury itself and any ongoing distress that results afterward, such as emotional turmoil, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, anxiety and depression, sleep disturbances, and PTSD symptoms. Pain and suffering compensation is considered "non-economic damages," which means that they compensate for intangible losses that have no specific dollar value.

How Do Attorneys Calculate Pain And Suffering?

No universal formula exists for calculating pain and suffering, but insurance companies and lawyers typically use one of two primary methods: The “Multiplier Method” and the “Per Diem Method.”

How Does The Multiplier Method Work?

In the multiplier method, you begin with your economic losses (e.g., medical expenses and lost wages) and multiply them by a number between 1.5 and 5. For example, if you accumulated $10,000 in medical bills and lost wages, and an attorney applied a multiplier of 3, you could claim $30,000 for your pain and suffering. 

That multiplier factor can change based on the severity of your injuries, the length of your recovery period, and any significant impact your injuries have on your daily life. 

How Does The Per Diem Method Work?

The per diem (Latin for "per day") method assigns a daily dollar amount to your pain and suffering and multiplies it by the number of days you experienced pain. Attorneys often base this daily rate on your daily earnings. For instance, if you earned $200 per day and you suffered for 100 days, your attorney might total your pain and suffering damages at $20,000. 

How Can You Strengthen Your Pain And Suffering Claim?

Generally, the more documentation you have after your accident, the stronger your claim. 

Medical records corroborate your injuries and treatment. Your receipts showing consistent medical care reveal that your pain reached the level where you needed professional help. If you keep a daily pain journal, write down your pain levels, limitations on activities, emotional struggles, sleep disruptions, and medication side effects. If you show this journal to a court or insurance company, your subjective experiences of your pain can greatly augment your case.

What Factors Might Reduce Your Pain And Suffering Compensation?

If courts find you partially responsible for the accident, under the rules of comparative negligence, they may reduce your compensation by your percentage of fault. In other words, if the court values your total injuries and losses at $20,000 but determines that you were 10% responsible for the accident, they will deduct 10% from your final payout—which leaves you with $18,000. 

If you do not consistently make your medical appointments, the court may interpret these gaps in your treatment as a signal that your pain lacks severity or continuity, despite what you might say about it. 

In some personal injury cases, the insurance companies or opposing counsel might argue that your pain stemmed from pre-existing conditions and prior issues, rather than from your accident. If a court buys this argument, you may see a significantly lower payout for your accident. 

To improve your chances of receiving fair compensation, seek immediate and consistent medical attention, follow all prescribed treatment plans from your doctors, document everything related to your injury and recovery, avoid posting on social media about your accident, and work with experienced legal representation.

How You Can Find Guidance with Pain and Suffering at the Cassidy Law Firm LLC

When you suffer an injury in New Jersey because of someone else’s negligent actions and need to calculate the fair value of your pain and suffering, let our nationally recognized attorneys at The Cassidy Law Firm LLC work with you to advocate for your interests, demand your maximum possible compensation, and bring you peace of mind while you focus on recovery.

Call our Shrewsbury office or fill out our online form for a free consultation. Your case is our priority, so let us serve you today.