So, another driver rear-ended you at a red light. While your physical injuries will heal with time and treatment, the mental anguish of the crash continues to disrupt your daily life. The insurance company made a settlement offer, but you're unsure if it adequately compensates you for your emotional trauma and diminished quality of life.
At Beck and Beck, our seasoned Nebraska car accident injury lawyers understand that the impact of a collision isn't limited to missed work and medical bills. Here, we'll explain how pain and suffering factor into the non-economic impact of an accident and what your rights are to seek compensation for such damages.
What Defines Pain and Suffering?
You’re familiar with economic damages such as medical bills, vehicle repair, and personal property replacement. Non-economic damages are intended to compensate you for the physical, emotional, and mental trauma caused by your injuries.
When our legal team helps you file an injury claim, we also consider:
- Emotional distress. Anxiety, depression, mood swings, post-traumatic stress disorder, and excessive stress may require professional counseling and medication to manage effectively.
- Loss of enjoyment. Accident injuries often prevent participation in favorite activities like sports, hobbies, or family outings.
- Sleep disorders. Insomnia, nightmares, and disrupted sleep patterns developed after an accident can impact work performance, emotional well-being, and physical recovery.
- Relationship strain. Serious injuries and the resulting emotional challenges can stress marriages, parent-child relationships, and friendships. Some car accident victims withdraw from social situations or struggling with intimacy.
- Cognitive changes. Traumatic brain injuries may cause difficulty concentrating, memory problems, or personality changes. These symptoms frequently affect job performance and personal relationships.
Insurance companies may try to downplay pain and suffering claims, arguing that they’re subjective or exaggerated. John Beck and Paul Beck strive to document and prove these damages.
Building a Strong Documentation Record
Detailed information serves as the foundation for your pain and suffering claim. Insurance companies and juries need clear evidence showing how your injuries impact daily life. Here are the key types of documentation we often recommend:
- Daily pain journal. Jot down your pain levels daily, noting how injuries affect your sleep, work, and family time. A consistent record demonstrates the ongoing nature of your suffering.
- Mental health records. Record symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other emotional challenges you experience. Include details about therapy sessions, medications, and how these conditions affect your daily functioning and relationships.
- Lifestyle changes. A log of activities and hobbies you can no longer enjoy, family events you've missed, and changes in intimate relationships illustrates how your accident injuries intrude on your life.
- Visual evidence. Take regular photos and videos showing your injuries, recovery process, and daily challenges. These visual records help others understand your physical limitations and ongoing struggles.
- Witness statements. Collect detailed accounts from family, friends, and coworkers describing changes they've observed in your physical capabilities and emotional state since the accident. Their perspectives provide valuable third-party validation of your suffering.
Maintaining thorough records from the start strengthens your position during settlement negotiations. Our team helps you develop an organized system for tracking this crucial documentation.
Methods Used to Calculate Pain and Suffering
Insurance companies typically use one of two methods to calculate pain and suffering compensation.
- The multiplier method applies a number between 1.5 and 5 to your economic damages, with more severe injuries receiving a higher multiplier. For example, if you had $50,000 in medical bills and lost wages, and your injuries warranted a multiplier of 3, your pain and suffering damages would be $150,000.
- The per diem method assigns a daily rate to your pain and suffering, often based on your daily earnings, and multiplies it by the number of days you experienced pain and suffering. If assigned a rate of $200 per day for 180 days of recovery, your damages would be $36,000.
These formulas serve as starting points for negotiations. The final amount depends on factors like injury severity, recovery time, and the full impact on your quality of life.
How Our Nebraska Car Accident Lawyers Strengthen Your Claim
At Beck & Beck, we use proven strategies to document the full impact of your injuries. We gather medical records, mental health evaluations, and expert testimony to establish how the crash affected you. Witness statements from family, friends, and coworkers help paint a clear picture of changes in your personality and capabilities since the accident. We can also bring in medical experts to explain how your injuries may cause ongoing pain or limitations in the future.
This comprehensive approach helps ensure you have a chance at fair compensation that reflects your suffering—not just an insurance company's formula-based calculation.