Being the victim of an accident and not being able to receive compensation for the pain and suffering is frustrating. To prevent you from that feeling, this article will discuss some helpful topics.
What Are Pain and Suffering Damages?
The term “pain and suffering damages” refers to compensation for physical, emotional, and psychological pains that the plaintiff experiences after an accident—whether caused by negligence or intentional actions.
Common examples of damages for pain and suffering include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, chronic pain and physical discomfort, an increased sense of general anxiety, and so forth.
Economic vs. Non-Economic Damages
Damages can be of an economic or non-economic nature.
Economic damages refer to monetary damages ranging from medical bills and lost salaries to reduced earning capacity and other financial losses.
Non-economic damages include physical, emotional, and psychological consequences that an accident has left on the plaintiff. Pain and suffering is an example of non-economic damage. As it’s impossible to measure the cost of damages for pain and suffering, it is also hard to calculate the corresponding compensation amount and make a persuasive claim for such compensation in court.
Factors That Influence Pain and Suffering Compensation
The amount of pain and suffering compensation might vary based on the types of personal injury cases, the severity of the injury, the emotional impact, the length of time it will take the victim to recover, etc. Compensation also depends on whether the accident’s impact is permanent and whether it will impact the victim’s daily activities and social relationships in the long run.
Severity of the Injury
One of the most important factors that determines the compensation amount is the severity of your injury. More severe wounds generally lead to costly medical procedures, diminished capacity to work, hence lower income, and many other financial and non-financial losses.
Consequently, your personal injury settlement will be higher to compensate for the higher costs associated with more severe injuries. If your doctors provide proof that the accident or resulting injury has led to permanent disability or disfigurement, then you can expect an even higher compensation.
Medical Treatment and Recovery Time
The longer the recovery time after the accident, the higher the pain and suffering compensation you receive. This is pretty logical, as longer recovery times imply more spending on medication, hospital visits, medical treatments, loss of productive work time, potentially lower income, and other financial and psychological burdens.
If you recover just after two or three visits, the financial losses you encounter will be substantially lower compared to incidents where the plaintiff needs weeks, months, or years-long treatment. While simple arm breaks might be treated with just ice and a sling, a severe spinal fracture might permanently steal your ability to stand or walk.
Whether you require a quick visit to the doctor’s office or an intensive medical treatment, your doctor will need to document all the relevant details that might be of help when determining your total compensation amount. Such relevant details may include the number of your hospital visits, names and doses of prescribed medications, costs of surgery(ies), and similar.
Emotional and Psychological Impact
Common types of emotional and psychological impact include PTSD, anxiety, depression, emotional distress (also called mental anguish), nightmares, obsessive thoughts, etc.
These negative psychological phenomena can severely impact your day-to-day life, immune system, physical health, and even life expectancy. Thus, while the emotional and psychological impact is often the hardest to measure and calculate, they might harm the victim to a higher degree than physical suffering alone would. Moreover, while many accidents might result in no physical damage to the people involved, there is often a high chance of minor or serious stress that results from the accident.
Very often, physical injury is accompanied by psychological trauma. For example, a person who has lost their ability to walk (whether temporarily or permanently), is likely to suffer from a worsened state of mental health as well.
Therefore, the emotional and psychological impact of an accident should never be overlooked, and emotional distress compensation should not be lower compared to compensation for pain from physical injuries.
Impact on Daily Life
Whether the impact of the accident is of a physical or psychological nature, it lowers the victim’s quality of life. Examples of such impact may range from hearing loss, speech impairment, and restricted mobility, to reduced earning capacity, emotional distress, money spent on mental health therapy visits, and so forth.
That’s why the plaintiff and their personal injury attorney need to keep track of all evidence that proves how a person’s life has been affected by the accident.
How Pain and Suffering Is Calculated in Oregon?
If you wonder how to calculate pain and suffering damages, there are digital pain and suffering calculators today that you can use to have a generic estimate of the potential compensation. However, online calculators and AI don’t take the nuances of your case into account.
As a result, the initial estimate provided by the online calculator and the final compensation amount determined by the court may differ.
An attorney, on the other hand, will carefully examine all the details of the accident and base the calculation on several factors:
- How serious the injury is
- Is the injury temporary or permanent
- To what extent does the injury affect the victim’s life and earning power
- How old the plaintiff is and what other health problems he or she has had prior to the accident
- How trustworthy the plaintiff is (e.g. by checking their criminal record)
- Whether or not the plaintiff is at fault in the accident (at least partially)
- What pieces of evidence support the plaintiff’s claim
The below methods explain how to calculate pain and suffering damages based on the above information.
Multiplier Method
When using this method, one first calculates the amount of economic damages. Then, this number is multiplied by a multiplier between 1.5 and 5. The choice of multiplier depends on how serious the injury is, whether or not it is permanent, and other relevant circumstances outlined above.
Let’s say you suffered $20,000 in economic losses, but the injury has serious repercussions for your daily life and therefore the multiplier has been decided to be 5. Then, you might be awarded non-economic damages of up to $100,000.
Per Diem Method
The per diem compensation method calculates compensation by multiplying a daily rate (based on your income or other above-mentioned factors) by the number of days you experienced pain and suffering from the accident date until you reached maximum medical improvement or recovery.
Let’s say the daily value is $100 and it took you 40 days from the accident date to recover. Then, you might be awarded $4000 worth of non-economic damages.
How to Prove Pain and Suffering Damages
The next step is to prove your case. To do that, you need witness testimonies, visual proof (e.g. photos, videos) of your injuries, x-rays, medical bills, surgery costs, psychologist visits, any evidence of obstacles and inconveniences you encounter due to the injury, etc. You might be surprised by how big of an impact these records can have on your total compensation amount. We recommend you collect as much evidence as you can.
- Written statements from your healthcare providers (they might detail the severity of your injury, your recovery progress, expected recovery period, medication side effects, your mental health state, further potential complications, etc.)
- Journaling by yourself (may be especially useful when documenting damages for mental suffering)
- Testimonies from family members, colleagues, and friends about how the accident has impacted your day-to-day life
Is There a Limit on Non-Economic Damages in Oregon?
According to the laws and regulations in Oregon, the current upper limit of non-economic damages in wrongful death cases is $500,000.
Regardless of the severity of your injury, the availability of evidence, or the amount of compensation you aim for, it is always best to consult with professionals who know how to best support your individual case and help you receive the compensation you deserve.
