When you’ve been permanently disabled, it is critical that you find a way to accurately calculate pain and suffering from a car accident. Some of the money you’re entitled to will be easy to calculate, such as those from medical expenses. If you’re careful to keep all of the receipts from your medical bills, your expenses will be calculated for you. However, calculating the pain and suffering associated with a permanent disability can be a challenge.
Start with the Medical Bills
In many cases, personal injury attorneys will use the total of the medical bills as a guide for calculating pain and suffering. The total of the medical bills will often be multiplied times two, three or even four to come up with a starting point for calculating pain and suffering.
Consider the Psychological Effect
Some injuries may cost little to repair from a medical standpoint; yet may have a huge psychological cost to the victim. Consider, for example, any injury that causes permanent scarring. Cleaning and bandaging a wound costs very little, but the emotional effect of being permanently scarred is very significant. In these cases, pain and suffering compensation should be fairly significant.
Beware of Insurance Companies
If you’ve been in a serious car accident, and are facing serious or permanent disability; beware of talking to insurance companies. Their number one goal is to get a release from liability so that you cannot sue. They will try to separate individual portions of the claim when it’s time for compensation discussions, rather than looking at all the effects combined. And, remember that any insurance company’s first offer to you should be considered a joke.
As a victim, you should always be considering the amount you could receive from a jury when discussing compensation. This doesn’t mean that you will necessarily sue the other driver’s insurance company. But, it does mean alter your perception of a fair settlement.
Getting Legal Help
The best advice when it comes to calculating pain and suffering after an auto accident is to find an attorney. Your attorney will be able to negotiate on your behalf, and will handle all the paperwork for you. You will almost always be able to get a larger settlement if an attorney is involved. And, though the attorney will charge you a fee; he’ll usually more than pay for his services by bringing you a larger sum in your pocket, too.
