Media post: How to Calculate Pain and Suffering in a Florida Personal Injury Claim
Personal injury claims typically include more than your injuries and property damage. You can also list lost income if your injuries are forcing you to miss work. Something else that often pops up in accident claims are things like your pain and suffering.
Known as non-economic damages, Florida doesn’t cap these losses so they can make up a big chunk of your claim’s value. The primary issue is coming up with the value of these intangible damages. Calculating pain and suffering in Florida accident claims takes some work and a bit of creativity to do properly.
What Are Non-Economic Damages?
Florida personal injury claims typically divide damages into two categories, economic and non-economic losses. Your economic damages are things like your medical expenses, property damage repair/replacement costs, and lost income. You may be able to claim lost current and future income depending on the severity of your injuries.
Economic damages are tangible, meaning you have bills and receipts to fall back on. Adding up these items gives you the total value of your economic damages. Pretty easy, right? All you need is a calculator, you’re done.
Non-economic damages are different. Your pain, suffering, mental anguish, and even loss of life enjoyment falls under this category. Since your pain and suffering don’t come with a handy price tag, figuring out the value can be a little complicated. You can’t just guess at a total, the insurance company is probably going to deny your personal injury claim.
Calculating Your Pain and Suffering
Since you can’t use bills and receipts to prove the value of your non-economic damages like pain and suffering, you’re going to need to get a little creative. Don’t worry, you’re not breaking any state insurance laws or federal ones for that matter. Both the state and insurance companies recognize two formulas used for calculating non-economic damages in personal injury claims.
The Multiplier Method
The multiplier method is the most common and sometimes it’s also the easiest. The insurance adjuster is going to ask you to rate your level of pain using a sliding scale. Giving your pain a number can be tough. After all, even a minor cut can be extremely painful.
Since everyone rates pain a little differently, insurance companies tend to look at the severity of your injuries. So, using a scale ranging from 1.5 to 5, you assign your pain and suffering a number. The higher the number, the more severe your injuries.
If you’re dealing with a broken leg and treatment lasts six weeks or so, the insurance company may assign the number 3 to represent your degree of pain and suffering. Now, turn to your economic damages. You’re going to need the total. You’re taking the total of your economic damages and multiplying it by the number assigned to your pain.
Your formula will look something like this. Your economic damages are $100,000 and your pain is at level 3. $100,000 x 3 = $300,000. This is the total value of your non-economic damages. Now add your economic and non-economic losses together. The full value of your personal injury claim is $400,000.
The Per Diem Method
You can also use the per diem method to calculate your non-economic damages. Even though this method isn’t as common, it’s still accepted by insurance companies. The primary reason it’s not commonly used is due to claim values.
Depending on your average daily earnings, the per diem method can jump your claim’s value. Remember, insurance companies are always looking for ways to reduce a claim’s overall value. Sometimes the per diem method is more than insurance companies want to pay. With that being said, here’s how you use the per diem method to calculate pain and suffering values.
You start by figuring out your average daily pay. This isn’t always the number on your pay stub. A good tip is to take your annual salary and divide it by the number of days you work in a year. This should give you the average amount you earn in a day.
Now, you’re looking at the number of days your injuries needed treatment. You can also count the number of days you felt pain. Take this number and multiply it by your average daily pay, this gives you the value of your non-economic losses.
So, if your average daily salary is $200 and you’re in pain for 60 days, the value of your non-economic damages is $12,000. Add this total to your economic losses and you get the total value of your accident claim.
Most Florida personal injury attorneys will use both methods. This way, you’re ready with a counteroffer if the insurance company denies the first one. Sometimes, it can help speed up the time it takes to settle an accident claim.
What Can Impact Your Non-Economic Damages
The severity of your injuries plays a huge role in determining the value of your non-economic losses. However, it’s not the only thing potentially impacting your claim’s value:
– How much your injuries affected your daily life and ability to enjoy your usual activities
– How the injury impacted your career and ability to work
– The level of disruption to your family life and distress the accident caused your loved ones
– The pain levels associated with your injuries
– If the injuries resulted in depression, anxiety, fear, or stress
Remember, your non-economic damages aren’t limited to pain and suffering. Stress, depression, anxiety, and fear can all increase your claim’s value. Before letting the insurance adjuster calculate your losses, talk to a Florida personal injury lawyer. Your attorney can help ensure the insurance company isn’t devaluing your pain and mental anguish.
Don’t Ignore Your Non-Economic Losses
Sure, figuring out your non-economic losses isn’t always easy. Someone’s asking you to rate your level of pain and you’re pretty sure it’s off the charts. Something else to keep in mind is Florida’s comparative negligence rule. The law can really have a devastating impact on your claim’s ultimate value. To get fair compensation for your pain and suffering then you can talk to an experienced accident attorney to help you.
