How Much Will I Get for Pain and Suffering from a Car Accident?
Request Free ConsultationIf you were injured in a car accident because of someone else’s negligence or wrongdoing, you might be considering filing a claim for the pain and suffering you’re experiencing. The physical pain, emotional trauma, anxiety, and stress following a car accident can overwhelm you and slow your recovery. You’re not just dealing with medical bills and missed work; you’re also facing the invisible yet profound impact that pain and suffering have on your daily life.
Fucielli & Lee’s Denver car accident lawyers understand the challenges you’re facing and some of the questions that may be weighing on your mind. If you’re like many of our car accident clients, you may have an understanding of the economic damages you can receive for car crash injuries, but what about non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering?
Can I be compensated for this pain and suffering? How much could I receive? How will my lawyer calculate my pain and suffering’s worth in dollars?
While the answers vary greatly depending on the circumstances unique to each case, there are some common factors that may affect your claim’s value. We’ll break it down below.
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Denver Car Accident Guide
- Understanding Pain and Suffering in Legal Terms
- What Does Pain and Suffering Include?
- Factors Influencing Pain and Suffering Compensation
- Methods for Calculating Pain and Suffering
- Colorado-Specific Considerations
- Why You Need a Lawyer to Handle Insurance Companies
- How a Car Accident Attorney Will Prove Your Pain and Suffering
- Steps to Strengthen Your Pain and Suffering Claim
- From Crash to Compensation: What to Expect
- Call Fuicelli and Lee’s Car Accident Lawyers Today
Understanding Pain and Suffering in Legal Terms
Pain and suffering go far beyond physical discomfort. They can seep into every part of your life, affecting your relationships, job performance, and overall quality of life. The activities you once enjoyed may now seem impossible or daunting.
Your family might mourn the loss of the old you they enjoyed before your accident.
While others may not see these impacts, they are very real and just as deserving of compensation as any other damage or loss you’ve suffered.
In the context of a car accident claim, “pain and suffering” refers to the physical discomfort and emotional distress you experience as a result of your injuries. This category of damages goes beyond quantifiable economic losses like medical bills or lost wages. It acknowledges the less tangible, more subjective toll of the car accident on your life.
What Does Pain and Suffering Include?
When we talk about “pain and suffering” in the context of a car accident claim, we’re referring to a broad umbrella term that encompasses a wide range of injuries, hardships, and adverse life changes. As Denver personal injury lawyers, we’ve seen firsthand how pain and suffering can turn a person’s life upside down.
Let’s break down the different components that may fall under this term:
- Physical pain from injuries: The body’s sensory response to damage, ranging from whiplash and bruising to severe fractures or spinal cord injuries common in car crashes.
- Emotional distress: Mental anguish resulting from the accident, ranging from general anxiety or depression related to the traumatic experience to profound psychological distress and fear of future accidents.
- Loss of enjoyment of life: The inability to engage in previously cherished activities due to accident-related limitations, like giving up sports due to a severe leg injury.
- Inconvenience: The added complexity in performing daily tasks post-accident, such as needing assistance for basic self-care due to broken bones or limited mobility.
- Loss of consortium: Specific to married couples, this refers to the loss of marital benefits, including intimacy, affection, and support due to injuries sustained in the accident.
- Loss of companionship: The broader impact on relationships, including those with children, parents, and life partners, due to the accident victim’s inability to engage in shared activities or provide emotional support as before.
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A severe psychological response to the traumatic event of the crash, potentially involving flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety.
- Anxiety or fear of driving: A specific phobia or intense anxiety related to driving or being a passenger in a vehicle after experiencing a car accident.
Pain and suffering damages are considered “non-economic” because they don’t have a precise dollar value attached to them. Calculating them for compensation is usually more complex than totaling up medical bills or lost wages.
Factors Influencing Pain and Suffering Compensation
When calculating the amount of compensation to claim for your pain and suffering, your Denver car accident lawyer will take several things into account, including:
- Severity of injuries: Ranges from minor bruises to life-altering trauma like spinal cord injuries or traumatic brain injuries. More severe injuries typically warrant higher compensation.
- Duration of recovery: The time it takes to heal, from days for minor whiplash to months or years for complex fractures or internal injuries. Longer recovery periods often result in higher compensation.
- Long-term or permanent effects: Chronic pain, disability, or disfigurement resulting from the accident. Permanent injuries, like loss of limb function, usually lead to higher compensation.
- Impact on daily life and activities: How injuries affect your ability to work, engage in hobbies, or perform routine tasks. For instance, a hand injury preventing a musician from playing their instrument could significantly increase compensation.
- Psychological effects: Mental health impacts like PTSD, anxiety, or depression following the accident. These can be as debilitating as physical injuries and are considered in compensation.
- Age and overall health before the accident: Pre-existing conditions and age can affect recovery and future quality of life. A young person with a permanent disability normally faces more significant life changes and potential future losses than an older person with less severe injuries, potentially justifying higher compensation.
- Strength of evidence: Clear documentation of injuries, consistent medical records, and expert testimonies strengthen your claim. Strong evidence can lead to higher compensation.
Your Denver car accident lawyer would consider all these factors to build a comprehensive claim that accurately reflects the full impact of the accident on your life.
Methods for Calculating Pain and Suffering
While there’s no standardized formula for calculating pain and suffering damages, your car accident lawyer, insurance companies, and courts usually use one of two primary methods:
The Multiplier Method
This approach involves multiplying your economic damages (medical bills, lost wages, etc.) by a number, depending on the severity of your injuries and other factors, to establish how much compensation you should seek for pain and suffering.
The Per Diem Method
This method assigns a daily rate to your pain and suffering, then multiplies it by the number of days you experienced pain.
These calculations may serve as a baseline for more complex calculations. The actual amount you might receive can vary significantly based on the specific circumstances of your case.
Colorado-Specific Considerations
In Colorado, there are some specific laws and regulations that can affect your pain and suffering compensation. These include:
Statute of Limitations
Colorado’s statute of limitation is generally two years in personal injury cases and three years in personal injury cases involving a motor vehicle. This means you generally have three years from the accident date to file a lawsuit for car accident injuries. You may lose your right to seek compensation if you miss this deadline.
Modified Comparative Negligence
Colorado follows a “modified comparative negligence” rule. This means that if you’re found to be 50% or more at fault for the accident, you cannot recover damages. If you’re less than 50% at fault, your compensation will be reduced by your percentage of fault.
Damage Caps for Non-Economic Damages Cases
Colorado’s cap on pain and suffering and other non-economic damages in personal injury cases changes frequently. Consult with an experienced car accident lawyer who will help you understand your rights and maximize your potential compensation within the current cap.
Why You Need a Lawyer to Handle Insurance Companies
When you’re suffering after a car accident, the last thing you want is to face a mountain of paperwork and legal jargon. Yet, your vulnerability works to the insurance companies’ advantage. Insurers know that you may be overwhelmed physically, emotionally, and financially.
After a car accident, an insurance company for the at-fault party will likely contact you to make you an offer. While their settlement offer may be tempting to accept, it almost certainly will pay you far less than you deserve.
Don’t leave money on the table. Hire a skilled and top-performing Denver car accident lawyer to handle the insurance companies. You and your lawyer know what your injuries are worth. The insurance companies will only pay you what they think you may accept. They are businesses that look out for their best interests first.
How a Car Accident Attorney Will Prove Your Pain and Suffering
Medical expenses, lost wages or income, and broken bones can be proven with receipts, employer pay stubs, photos, and medical records. Pain and suffering, however, aren’t as obvious. Others may not see or grasp your suffering and how it has affected your life. It’s the job of a skilled and experienced Denver car accident lawyer to prove how much your pain and suffering are worth.
Our job is to make you whole again. In legal terms, that means restoring you and your quality of life to the condition you would have been in had the accident never happened. We do this in the following ways:
- Accurate Valuation: An experienced attorney documents and demonstrates all aspects of your pain and suffering and gives them value. We know how to present your case in a way that fully shows the toll the accident and your injuries have had on your life.
- Negotiation Skills: Even if you don’t accept the Insurance company’s offer to settle, they may still try to minimize your claim so they won’t have to pay you as much. We will negotiate on your behalf, pushing back against lowball offers and fighting for your full, fair, and complete compensation.
- Gathering Evidence: Proving pain and suffering requires strong evidence. We gather and present medical records, expert testimonies, and other important evidence to support your claim.
- Knowledge: Car accident laws can be complex. We know the rules and regulations and how to seek maximum compensation within the legal framework and its limits.
- Stress Reduction: Dealing with a legal claim while recovering from injuries can be overwhelming. Allowing us to handle the legal aspects allows you to focus on healing and getting your life back on track.
Steps to Strengthen Your Pain and Suffering Claim
While your attorney will guide you through the process, there are steps you can take to strengthen your claim:
- Seek Immediate Medical Attention: Even if you think your injuries are minor, get checked out by a doctor. This creates a medical record linking your injuries to the accident and shows you are concerned about your well-being.
- Follow Your Treatment Plan: Attend all follow-up appointments and follow your doctor’s advice. This shows you’re taking your recovery seriously.
- Keep a Pain Journal: Document how your injuries affect your daily life. Note pain levels, activities you can’t perform, and emotional impacts.
- Gather Evidence: Keep all medical bills, records of missed work, and any other documents related to your accident and injuries.
- Be Cautious on Social Media: Avoid posting about your accident or injuries online, as these posts could be used against you.
- Don’t Rush to Settle: Insurance companies often offer quick settlements that may not fully cover your damages. Consult with an attorney before accepting any offer.
From Crash to Compensation: What to Expect
After you’ve been injured in a car accident, you may find yourself on a journey you never asked to take. The path from the day of the crash to getting compensation for your pain and suffering isn’t always straight, but understanding the landmarks along the way can make the process less daunting. Here are the major steps to expect:
- Initial Consultation: You meet with a car accident attorney to discuss your case and decide on the best course of action for you.
- Investigation: Your attorney assembles a team to investigate your case. We gather evidence, including police reports, medical records, and witness statements, hire crash reconstruction experts if necessary, and take any other measures we must to build a solid case.
- Demand Letter: Once you’ve reached maximum medical improvement (MMI), we will send a demand letter to the insurance company outlining your damages.
- Negotiation: If the insurance company and other related parties reject our offered opportunity to settle, we will negotiate with the at-fault party and their insurer. Our goal is to reach a settlement that gives you the compensation you deserve.
- Litigation: Fuicelli & Lee is fully prepared to take your case to trial if the at-fault parties refuse to settle for a fair amount.
- Settlement or Trial: Sometimes, when a case goes to trial, the defendants and their insurers will be more receptive to settling. If they aren’t, a judge or jury will hear your case and determine your compensation.
Call Fuicelli and Lee’s Car Accident Lawyers Today
If you’re coping with pain and suffering after a car accident, you deserve a Denver car accident lawyer who understands what you’re up against and fights relentlessly for your rights. All of Fuicelli & Lee’s top-performing lawyers concentrate solely on personal injury cases, giving us the time, focus, and resources to get the best possible results for our injured clients.
We have a long and proven record of securing high-dollar settlements and awards for our car accident clients, who give us a collective 4.9 Google rating and hundreds of heartfelt recommendations and reviews.
We are passionate about helping those who’ve been injured by someone else’s careless actions. Call us today at (303) 444-4444 or visit our contact form to schedule a free consultation. Let us go to work for you today.