No one expects to get into a life-altering accident—whether it’s a car accident, a slip and fall accident, or another personal injury. But if and when it does happen to you, you always want to ensure that you are being fairly compensated by the person or group who is at fault.
“Pain and suffering” in legal terms mean that a plaintiff has suffered physical, emotional, and mental injuries due to an accident. Injuries sustained from an accident can impact your day-to-day life, your well-being, and your ability to earn an income for you and your family. Although many victims of an accident choose to just suffer through their pain, this is an unfortunate decision to come to because you might be entitled to compensation due to another party’s negligence.
If you’ve suffered from an accident that has greatly impacted your life, here is more information on how pain and suffering lawsuits are calculated, and why you should seek legal representation to get fairly compensated.
ESTABLISH THE DEFENDANT IS AT FAULT
To be compensated for pain and suffering, it must first be proven that the defendant has actually caused you financial loss. For example, in a slip and fall accident, it must be proven that the defendant was negligent to fix a lighting issue in their business’s parking lot, which caused you to miss seeing a large step and fall and cause a herniated disc.
PRESENT EVIDENCE OF LOSSES
Presenting evidence for pain and suffering can get a little complicated because pain and suffering can be hard to prove, especially if your damage is mental anguish or something else that’s not outwardly visible. However, any documentation you can provide to show how severe your injuries are, how the injuries have impacted your life and work, medical treatment you’ve had to take on since the incident, and documentation from friends or family members on how the accident has shaped your life.
THE MULTIPLIER METHOD
So how exactly is pain and suffering calculated? Often, the Multiplier Method is used—which involves multiplying the total amount of bills related to the accident by a number from 1.5 to 5 (1.5 being minor injuries and 5 for more severe injuries).
Of course, there are other methods that are used to calculate pain and suffering such as the per diem method (or an estimate of what the pain and suffering may have a cost per day).
When you have injuries from an accident in Georgia that are impacting your life, you need legal representation that will be on your side to pursue compensation. Click here for more information about Randy E. Fry, pain and suffering attorney.
