A significant part of any personal injury claim is pain and suffering damages. You may wonder how to calculate pain and suffering damages. Bobby Jones Law explains.
How Do You Calculate Pain and Suffering Damages for a Personal Injury Claim?
There is no exact formula to calculate pain and suffering damages for a personal injury claim.
Usually, pain and suffering damages are awarded using a multiplier method of 1.5 to 5 times economic damages or a daily rate to reflect non-economic losses during a period of recovery.
The goal is to determine an amount that is proportional to the severity of the injury and harm that has occurred.
Is there a formula for how pain and suffering is calculated?
No. There is no exact formula for how pain and suffering is calculated. That’s because it varies from case to case.
Economic losses are used as the guide to assess non-economic damages. However, financial losses don’t always accurately reflect someone’s suffering. A person might have severe disfigurement even though they have received medical attention.
Injuries may prevent a person from doing activities they enjoyed before, even if financial losses don’t reflect that behavior change.
A formula wouldn’t be fair for every circumstance, so there is no formula. However, there are a couple of methods that are generally used. These methods are flexible and can adjust to the individual circumstances of a case.
Methods Used To Calculate Pain and Suffering
There are two primary methods used to calculate pain and suffering—the multiplier method and the per diem method.
Multiplier method
The multiplier method attaches a multiplier to the amount of economic damages. Typically, the multiplier ranges from 1.5 to 5, with five being reserved for the most severe cases. The multiplier is applied to the amount of economic loss and added together to form the total compensation award.
Here are examples to explain.
Example 1: $10,000 in economic damages X 1.5 multiplier for mild injuries = $15,000 in non-economic damages. $10,000 + $15,000 = a total compensation award of $25,000.
Example 2: $300,000 in economic damages X 2 multiplier for moderate injuries = $600,000 in non-economic damages. $300,000 + $600,000 = a total compensation award of $900,000.
The highest multipliers are reserved for the most extreme injuries. To use a multiplier of 4 or 5, a person would need to have severe injuries that affect them for a lifetime. Most cases use a lower multiplier.
Per diem method
The per diem method assigns a daily value to pain and suffering. It is measured during a period of recovery.
Example 1: A person has $10,000 in economic losses from a personal injury. They are affected by their injuries for 100 days. With a per diem pain and suffering award of $150, their total pain and suffering award is $150 X 100 = $15,000. The total compensation award is $25,000.
Example 2: A person has $300,000 in economic losses from a personal injury. They are affected by their injuries for 300 days. With a per diem pain and suffering award of $200, their total pain and suffering award is $200 X 300 = $600,000. The total compensation award is $900,000.
The multiplier and per diem methods may reach similar results, but these are just examples.
Your attorney can advise on the appropriate method to use in your case.
Factors That Influence the Value of Pain and Suffering Claims
- How long the person feels physical pain
- Whether the pain is mild, moderate, or severe
- If the person has visible scars, disability, or disfigurement
- The person’s age and life expectancy
- Whether injuries prevent the same activities and lifestyle as before
- Reputation damage, loss of participation in the community
- Chronic and permanent pain or immobility
- Mental impact, how the person has suffered emotionally
Every pain and suffering award is personal and specific to the case. It’s true that more serious injuries generally result in greater suffering, but it cannot be assumed. The person bringing the case must identify and prove their non-economic damages.
The Role of Documentation in Proving Pain and Suffering
Simply using a method to calculate non-economic damages isn’t enough to sustain your award.
You must present documentation to support it. There are several ways to document pain and suffering, including the following:
- Medical testimony about the physical pain caused by injuries
- The victim’s statements about their pain, anguish, and lifestyle changes
- Counselors and mental health professionals that can speak to mental impact
- Family and friends that can explain how the person’s life has changed
- Diaries and journals that detail daily life
What Are Pain and Suffering Damages?
Pain and suffering damages are losses that result from a personal injury accident that can’t be measured directly by financial loss.
When an injury occurs, a person likely sustains some measure of monetary loss. They are likely to incur some of the following expenses:
- Medical bills
- Out-of-pocket medical expenses
- Lost income, career damage
- Damaged property, loss of use of property
- Replacement household services
These are direct financial losses that can be totaled with a calculator to a certain sum.
However, these are not the only ways that someone who is hurt in a personal injury accident suffers. They have physical pain. They have the emotional loss of what has happened and how their life has changed. They may have mental anguish. These are pain and suffering damages.
Pain and suffering damages in South Carolina
South Carolina defines non-economic damages. There are many types of nonpecuniary losses, such as physical impairment, inconvenience, loss of society and companionship, and humiliation, including pain and suffering. In personal injury law, pain and suffering may just mean physical pain, but it often encompasses more kinds of noneconomic loss.
Contact an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer
The best way to know how to calculate pain and suffering damages in your personal injury case is to have a personalized consultation with a lawyer. At Bobby Jones Law, we represent injured people in compensation claims. You can ask an experienced litigator how much pain and suffering damages you may receive. Call or message us now.
