How Are Pain and Suffering Damages Calculated? (2024)

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How Are Pain and Suffering Damages Calculated? (1)

Pain and suffering damages – which compensate you for the changes in your life brought on by your accident – might represent a significant part of a settlement or damages award.

Lawyers can help you to evaluate the pain and suffering damages you might claim. But the strategies used to calculate these damages can vary.

Below, you’ll find information about the ways that pain and suffering damages are calculated and how you can help to support your claim for non-economic damages.

Table of Contents

What Are Non-Economic Damages?

Non-economic damages are intended to compensate you for injuries that cannot be measured financially. Some of the injuries that can be compensated through non-economic damages include:

When Can You Recover Compensation for Pain and Suffering in Florida?

Florida is unique in a few ways. First, Florida is a no-fault insurance state. This means that Florida drivers are required to purchase auto insurance to cover their own losses in case of an accident.

This also means that drivers in Florida must file a claim with their own insurance company after an accident, even if someone else caused the accident. The insurance companies pay the claim strictly based on the documented injuries and property damage, regardless of fault.

Secondly, unless a car accident involves some specific circ*mstances, the injured person cannot claim compensation for pain, suffering, mental anguish, or inconvenience.

The statute only allows non-economic damages if one of the following occurred during the car accident:

Death
Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function
Permanent injury
Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement

This means that most injured people would need to consult a lawyer to determine whether they can claim non-economic damages.

How Are Pain and Suffering Damages Calculated?

The value of pain and suffering can be difficult to pin down because they are not tied to any bills.

As a result, an insurance company or jury usually needs an expert to help them set an amount for non-economic recovery.

Some of the factors used to quantify non-economic damages include:

The severity and duration of the injury
The age of the injured person
The activities lost due to the injury
The severity and duration of pain experienced

These factors can be referenced regardless of the technique for calculating pain and suffering damages.

The two techniques for calculating non-economic damages are:

Multiplier Method

Under the multiplier method, the economic damages are calculated first. A multiplier is assigned based on factors like those described above. This multiplier usually ranges from 1.5 to 5.

The economic damages are multiplied against the multiplier to determine the entire damage award. For example, if the economic damages are $25,000 and the multiplier is 3, the total damages award is $100,000 ($25,000 in economic damages and $75,000 in non-economic damages).

Per Diem Method

According to this method, a daily value is assigned to the pain and suffering using factors like those outlined previously. This daily value is multiplied by the number of days the injured person experienced pain and suffering to arrive at the total amount of non-economic damages.

For example, if the per diem amount is $75 and the injured person suffered for 500 days, the total non-economic damages are $37,500. This amount would then be added to the economic damages to calculate the total damages awarded.

Each of these methods has its strengths. The multiplier method is good at capturing future damages, but relies heavily on the economic damages. If the value of economic damages is small, the multiplier method will produce a small value for non-economic damages, regardless of the actual pain and suffering experienced.

The per diem method is good for determining a value that is based on the impact of the accident on the injured person’s daily life. But this method is not tailored to account for future non-economic damages. For example, if an injury will prevent a parent from playing with grandchildren who have not yet been born, the per diem method will not account for these kinds of diminished activities.

Are There Limits on Non-Economic Damages?

Florida places no statutory limits on non-economic damages. Florida used to have a law that capped non-economic damages at $500,000 in medical malpractice lawsuits. This law was found to be unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court. This means that non-economic damages for pain and suffering are available to people who have been injured in all types of personal injury cases, including car accidents, slip-and-fall cases, and medical malpractice.

Recovering Compensation for Non-Economic Damages

Florida’s law regarding pain and suffering damages requires two steps to be satisfied for non-economic damages.

As a result, you will need evidence to prove:

You satisfy the Florida statute because you suffered a permanent injury, loss of an important bodily function, scarring, or disfigurement.
You have experienced pain, suffering, inconvenience, or mental anguish arising from the accident.

Evidence to prove that you satisfy these requirements can include medical records, expert testimony, and witness testimony.

You will want to document things such as:

Mental or emotional problems stemming from the accident
Activities you can no longer perform after the accident
Pain and pain management needed due to the accident
Inconveniences you have suffered from the accident

With evidence to prove these non-economic injuries, you can establish your claim for pain and suffering.

FAQs

How Are Pain and Suffering Damages Calculated? ›

Calculating Pain and Suffering: A Comprehensive Guide

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What is the formula for calculating pain and suffering? ›

The daily rate method relies on assigning a per diem amount of money, and then multiplying that amount by the number of days that the injured person experiences pain and suffering. The daily rate is often calculated by using a person's actual earnings.

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What is a typical amount of pain and suffering? ›

This number is generally between one and five, depending on the severity of the injury. For example, someone may endure a broken rib in a car crash. If their total monetary damages for that broken rib are $5,000, that number may then be multiplied by one, two, three, or more to equal their pain and suffering expenses.

How do you determine the price of pain and suffering? ›

The pain multiplier approach: This method determines pain and suffering damages by multiplying actual economic damages like medical expenses by a set number (the multiplier). The multiplier is usually between 1.5 and 5, with a higher multiplier for more serious injuries.

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How to calculate damages for emotional distress? ›

Once the attorney has argued for emotional distress damages, he or she will then calculate a settlement amount using what's called a “multiplier method.” It works by adding up all the tangible or economic damages, like medical costs and lost wages, and then multiplying that sum by a given number, usually between 1.5 ...

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How do you calculate settlement amount? ›

To determine a potential settlement value, they first combine the total of medical expenses to date, projected future medical expenses, lost wages to date and projected future lost income. The resulting sum is then multiplied by the pain and suffering multiplier value to produce a projected settlement amount.

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How does a court determine the amount of damages to be awarded? ›

Courts will typically look at factors such as the wealth or valuation of the defendant, the egregiousness of the harm suffered by the plaintiff, and the amount of compensatory damages awarded to the plaintiff when determining a punitive damages award.

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What is a good settlement figure? ›

It comes down to math. Very roughly, if you think that you have a 50% chance of winning at trial, and that a jury is likely to award you something in the vicinity of $100,000, you might want to try to settle the case for about $50,000.

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Is there a limit to pain and suffering? ›

There is no set amount, or even guideline, for determining the amount of pain suffering for an injury victim. In fact, the award amounts vary depending on the state where the incident occurred. Some states limit the types of claims and others have caps, or damage limits, on the amounts.

What is a fair settlement? ›

At The Glenn Armentor Law Corporation, our motto is, “A Fair Settlement Is No Accident.” People ask us all the time – what exactly is a fair settlement? In the context of what we do as a personal injury law firm, a fair settlement means ensuring that everything the client has lost due to their injury is recovered.

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What is the equation for pain suffering? ›

The Multiplier method adds up all incurred costs like medical bills, lost wages, etc. along with inevitable future costs. It then takes that total and multiplies it 1.5 to 5 times that amount depending on the severity of the pain, suffering, and emotional distress.

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What type of compensatory damages will pay for pain and suffering? ›

General Compensatory Damages:

General compensatory damages are awarded to an injured person to compensate for the harms that cannot be measured exactly in monetary terms. They cover pain and suffering, mental anguish and loss of consortium or companionship. How is the monetary value of these calculated?

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How to calculate damages in a lawsuit? ›

There's no set formula to calculate damages. However, a general rule to discern the amount awarded is to combine your expenses and determine a value for your pain and suffering. A personal injury lawyer can help you determine the amount in both general and special damages that you deserve.

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What is the most you can sue for emotional distress? ›

There are no caps on compensatory damages for physical or mental/emotional injuries in our state. So, there's no limit, in theory, of how much you could receive; the total amount you'll get depends on the circ*mstances of your case and the seriousness of your injuries.

How do you prove emotional pain and suffering? ›

You need to show another caused your emotional distress negligently or deliberately and that you suffered considerably as a result. Being diagnosed with an actual condition, such as PTSD, depression or anxiety, can help to prove your case.

What is the burden of proof for emotional distress? ›

To recover for the intentional infliction of emotional distress, a plaintiff usually has the burden to prove that 1) the defendant has acted intentionally or recklessly; 2) defendant's act was outrageous and extreme and 3) such act has caused the plaintiff's emotional distress.

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What is the equation for pain, suffering? ›

What is the formula for settlement calculation? ›

For example, one of the most common formulas for elastic settlement is: S_e = (qB)/(1-v^2) * [0.5 * log(2L/B) + F(v)]/E where S_e is the elastic settlement, q is the load intensity, B is the foundation width, L is the foundation length, v is the Poisson's ratio, E is the modulus of elasticity, and F(v) is a correction ...

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How is pain and suffering calculated slip and fall? ›

Calculating Pain and Suffering in Slip-and-Fall Claims

This method involves: Adding up all economic losses. Multiplying the total by a factor between 1.5 and 5. The multiplier depends on injury severity, recovery time, and impact on daily life.

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How is CT pain and suffering calculated? ›

Conclusion. Calculating pain and suffering in personal injury cases in Connecticut involves carefully considering various factors, such as the severity of the injury, duration of recovery, impact on daily life, emotional distress, expert testimony, and juror perception.

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