Non-economic damages such as anxiety and depression are not as easy when it comes to calculating their compensation due to their intangible nature. They should however not be ignored after the occurrence of an accident and they may include distress, anguish as well as discomfort an individual may experience after an accident. The legal system has devised a formula that will help compensate individuals for their emotional distress.
Before rushing to request for compensation in this category, you must first understand what encompasses emotional distress in a personal injury case. To act as a guide, below are some examples:
Pain can arise as a result of different factors after an accident. The most immediate pain arises from the injuries incurred right after the accident. Alternatively, the pain may also arise from proposed medical procedures such as surgery and other treatment options. The processes of physical therapy may also cause suffering to the injured person. All these options are eligible for compensation as long as you can prove that they are lined to the accident in question.
It is important to seek the services of a qualified and reputable attorney to help with damage recovery. You will not only receive fair compensation but you will also be able to base more of your time to recovery as our qualified La Injury lawyer takes on the case.
Measuring the intensity of how much pain an individual is in has no exact standards of doing so in the legal system. With the help of doctors and other experts in the medical field, records can be provided to show to indicate the severity of the suffering. However, the system will consider the following factors when evaluating the value!
Unlike economic damages that go into covering bills arising from the accident, this type of damages account for the negative effect of the injury. The loss of enjoyment of life can significantly impact the life of an individual in the long-term. These strategies seek to better an individual’s life.
An individual’s well-being, cultural development, social cohesion as well as the quality of life they experience all play a major role in determining their non-economic benefits. Without these factors, an individual does not have a social life and getting by the daily normal activities can be devastating. For example, imagine having to end up on a wheelchair as a result of an amputation for the rest of your life after an accident without the ability to settle bills and address your wellness. As such, the legal system has provided the option to sue for emotional distress, not as a way of reducing the effects but as a way of ensuring you obtain some favor to keep you going.
Calculating emotional distress can be challenging because it is rather difficult to tie it to bills. It is due to this intangibility that a jury or insurance company relies on experts to help determine a possible amount for recovery. The factors they will look at to help quantify emotional distress will include the severity of the injury, age of the injured individual, and the activities lost as a result of the injury.
The multiplier method just as the name suggests, refers to multiplying a specific amount by a specific factor. Under this method, the contributing factor is usually between 1.5 and 5. The specific figure to be used is dependent on the underlying factors of the case. The amount to be multiplied with the variable is normally obtained from the economic settlement.
For example, a plaintiff may have suffered about $600,000 in their personal injury case. He or she may receive non-economic damages by multiplying the $600,000 by let us say 2 (the determined variable). Therefore, they may request $1.2 million to cover mental anguish.
This technique is straight to the point. While many will be reluctant on how the jury or insurance company obtaining the multiplying figures, it is transparent and reliable.
The Daily Rate method refers to applying a rather fair “daily rate” that an individual will require to live with the possible injuries and/or disabilities. Once an amount is decided upon, you will be required to multiply that amount by the number of days it took the individual to recover from the injuries alongside the person’s life expectancy.
Just as personal injury cases differ, this technique also puts this factor into consideration therefore providing a unique amount for each scenario. Through this technique, there is no one-size fits all formula to determine settlement.
A: Individuals can sue for emotional distress only but it is important to note that it may not be an easy task. Keep in mind that you must prove beyond reasonable doubt that your emotional distress is as a result of the unfortunate incident. For example, if you witnessed let us say a bombing, you can seek compensation for mental anguish.
While this can be true, such cases are very few.
A: According to the statute of limitations, it takes the same amount of time to file for pain and suffering as it would take to file for a personal injury claim. Therefore, an individual will have a three year statute of limitation counted as from the date of the accident that caused the injuries. In the event this time elapses, for whatever reason, you do not have the right to pursue that case in court even if the claim seems valid.
However, some circumstances may even shorten the time required to file a lawsuit. The best approach to determining your case’s legality is by consulting with the best rated personal injury attorney as soon as possible to guide you through the process.
A: Considering that there is no one-size fits all to determine mental anguish, there are factors that must be put into consideration to help settle on a fair and just compensation. The financial compensation will not reduce the pain or suffering but it seeks to help the individual to live better despite the current situation. These factors include:
Q: What determines the variable to use when using the multiplier method to calculate pain and suffering damages?
A: Under normal circumstances, the multiplier variable will range between 1.5 and 5. While many individuals hope for the highest variable, the jury or insurance company must consider the severity of the case. Therefore, the more severe a case is, the higher the multiplying variable.
The variable will then be multiplied to the amount settled in their personal injury settlement as suffered by the individual. The economic settlements are also determined by the court if the case goes to trial or by participating parties (such as insurance companies and/or lawyers) where the case is settled out of court.
The legal system is seeing to help an individual to recover damages both economic (which is very common) as well as non-economic. While it is easier to determine economic damages, the same cannot be said about non-economic damages. However, the courts try as much as they can to help individuals to recover their mental wellness and life. To ensure that you receive fair and just compensation, it is highly recommended that you seek the services of a our reliable and reputable La Injury personal injury attorney to steward your case.
Avraham Ronen. (2006). Putting a Price on Pain and Suffering Damages: A Critique of the Current Approaches and a Preliminary Proposal for Change. https://law.utexas.edu/faculty/ravraham/putting-a-price-on-pain-and-suffering.pdf John Campbell, Bernard Cha, and Christopher Robertson (2017). Time is Money: An Empirical Assessment of Non-economic Damages Arguments. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6264&context=law_lawreview