Pain and suffering refer to any physical or emotional injuries a person suffers following a car accident. Physical discomfort, emotional distress, and physical injuries compensate for non-economic damages in a personal injury lawsuit. This could include pain, discomfort, anguish, inconvenience, trauma, and physical injuries.

Pain and suffering aren’t limited to the here and now. Some car accident injuries manifest immediately, while others can take weeks or months to appear. Head trauma, for instance, is one of the most common and potentially fatal consequences of a car accident. Life-threatening injuries could worsen over weeks without a person realizing that they resulted from an accident.

How Much is Pain and Suffering Worth?

Going the route of an insurance settlement for your car accident injuries will leave you with less compensation than your accident is worth. Insurance adjusters offer only half or one time your economic damages to accommodate your pain and suffering. On the other hand, our personal injury attorneys consider monetary and non-economic damages to reach a worthy settlement.

When pursuing restitution, our attorneys look at physical pain and discomfort, future pain and suffering, the impact of injuries and limitations on a person’s lifestyle or job, the adverse effects of physical pain, and the discomfort of medical treatment. In other words, there is no cookie-cutter approach to determining a settlement, but various factors should work together to identify a valuable amount.

How Do You Prove Pain and Suffering?

Generally speaking, two types of pain and suffering support a claim for bodily injury and harm. The first is physical pain and suffering, while the second is mental anguish. A record of medical visits and treatment related to your injury is helpful in a personal injury lawsuit, even when pain isn’t visible. Sometimes injuries appear in the first 24-48 hours, while other internal injuries might surface weeks later and cause further injuries or illnesses.

With proof, the victim of the accident can sue the at-fault driver for medical debt, pain and suffering, property damage, and other losses.

What Other Factors are Involved in Calculating a Settlement?

Personal injury lawsuits consider both economic and non-economic factors in reaching a settlement amount. Economic damages include medical bills, lost wages, and other out-of-pocket expenses related to your injuries.

Non-economic damages include non-compensation-related losses like pain, inconvenience, emotional distress, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium, and loss of quality of life. Disfigurement and disability are other types of non-economic damage.

If you are suffering from an accident-related injury, settling for compensation that doesn’t support your new lifestyle isn’t the only option. Schedule a free consultation with our attorneys to discuss your accident and the likelihood of a lawsuit: (703) 420-3725.