Understanding Pain and Suffering Damages in Personal Injury Cases

A serious accident can change your life in a matter of seconds. Through a personal injury claim, you have the right to seek compensation to pay your bills—including to cover property damage, medical expenses, and lost wages. A bad accident can also leave a victim dealing with non-economic losses, including pain and suffering. Personal injury pain and suffering must be taken seriously. You may be entitled to financial compensation. Within this article, our Charleston personal injury lawyer explains the key points to know about pain and suffering damages in personal injury claims.

What are Damages for Pain and Suffering?

A serious accident can leave a person with physical pain, mental suffering, and emotional trauma. In a legal context, the term pain and suffering is used to refer to these damages. In South Carolina, you can seek compensation for actual pain and the resulting physical discomfort. You can also seek financial compensation for emotional and psychological distress.

Pain and suffering damages are non-economic. In effect, that means that no specific dollar figure can be tied to them. For example, imagine that you got medical care from a doctor in Charleston after a car accident. If your medical bills totaled $10,000, you could seek $10,000 in compensation for that loss. In contrast, your pain and suffering damages are not directly quantifiable.

How is Pain and Suffering Calculated in South Carolina?

While pain and suffering is a non-economic (intangible) damage, it is no less real. You have the right to seek full and fair compensation for your pain and suffering. With that being said, calculating these damages can be complex. There is no fixed standard to calculate pain and suffering in South Carolina. However, there are two main methods that are used to determine the value of personal injury pain and suffering in the state:

• Multiplier Method (More Common): The multiplier method involves adding up your economic damages—that being your medical expenses, lost wages, etc—and multiplying that total by a number between 1.5 and 5. The multiplier reflects the severity of your pain and suffering. For instance, if your economic damages are $10,000 and a multiplier of 3 is deemed appropriate, your pain and suffering would be valued at $30,000. What multiplier is selected? That is a subjective consideration determined based on the specific circumstances. A lawyer can help you seek the maximum compensation for your pain and suffering.
• Per Diem Method (Less Common): With the per diem method, a specific dollar amount is assigned to each day you experience pain and suffering from the date of the injury until full recovery. If the daily rate is set at $200 and your recovery takes 100 days, the total for pain and suffering would be $20,000. The per diem method is less common in South Carolina personal injury claims, though it may be used to determine your damages.

You Deserve the Maximum Available Compensation for Pain and Suffering

You deserve full and fair financial compensation for your pain and suffering. However, sadly, it can be difficult for injured victims to secure the compensation that they deserve. Indeed, insurance companies often attempt to undervalue pain and suffering damages. Their primary goal is to minimize payouts, preserving their financial interests. As pain and suffering damages are inherently ambiguous, insurance companies often try to take advantage of that face. They may argue that the victim’s pain is less severe and does not warrant significant compensation. Do not settle your case for less: A top-tier South Carolina personal injury lawyer can help you fight for the maximum financial compensation for your pain and suffering damages.

An Overview of Evidence You Can Use to Prove the Value of Your Pain and Suffering

As an injured victim in Charleston, you should be prepared for the insurance companies’ tactics. A proactive approach can put you in the best position to secure the full available financial compensation. Evidence that you can use to establish the value of your pain and suffering damages include:

• Medical Records: Medical records help to form the foundation of your personal injury damages, including your pain and suffering losses. Along with other things, these records document the extent of your injuries, the treatments you received, and the prognosis for recovery. They can help illustrate the severity and duration of your pain. Further, doctors’ notes and medical test results can corroborate the physical impact of your injuries.

• Photos and Video: Visual evidence—such as photographs and videos—can powerfully convey the severity of your injuries and their impact on your daily life. Any photos or video that documents your recovery process—or demonstrates the difficulty in performing daily tasks—can help to provide proof of the extent of your pain and suffering.

• Your Journal: Keeping a daily journal can be a powerful tool in quantifying your pain and suffering. By documenting your daily pain levels, emotional states, and how the injuries affect your daily activities, you create a personal and detailed account. One of the advantages of keeping a contemporaneous journal is that it can help illustrate the continuity and intensity of your pain and suffering over time.

• Witness Testimony: The personal testimony from family, friends, and colleagues can provide a narrative of your pain and suffering that medical records and journals might not capture. These people can speak to the changes in your lifestyle, demeanor, and physical capabilities since the injury.

Contact Our Charleston Personal Injury Attorney Today

Attorney Trey Harrell is a Charleston personal injury attorney who fights tirelessly to protect the rights of injured victims. Have questions about pain and suffering damages? Remember Trey Hepls! Our firm fights for the maximum financial compensation for pain and suffering for injured victims.

Contact us right away for your free, no-obligation initial case review. With an office in Charleston, we handle personal injury cases throughout the surrounding region in South Carolina.