How Is Fault Determined in a Multi-Vehicle Accident?
If you have been injured due to another person’s negligence – whether it be in a car accident, truck accident, motorcycle accident, truck accident, slip and fall accident, or any other personal injury case – you may be entitled to seek compensation for your damages from the at-fault party’s insurance company. After M. Austin Jackson Attorney at Law establishes that the defendant is, in fact, at-fault for your injuries, we will then seek to prove that your financial losses due to the accident.
When someone is injured in Georgia as a result of another person’s negligence, the law allows the injured party to seek compensation for economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages account for damages that are calculable (medical bills, lost wages), and are easily presentable to a jury. Non-economic damages like pain and suffering are more difficult to prove.
When Does an Insurance Company Compensate for Pain and Suffering?
In cases where the other party was clearly at fault, the injured person will be eligible to receive at least a percentage of compensation for their pain and suffering. Insurance companies will often attempt to offer an injured person very little for their pain and suffering. This is where we can help. The personal injury attorneys at M. Austin Jackson Attorney at Law will ensure that the proper amount of compensation is offered for your pain and suffering.
The following includes factors that insurance companies take into account when calculating pain and suffering damages:
- The severity of your injuries
- The pain and discomfort you experience on a daily basis because of your injuries
- How the injuries have come to impact the quality of your life
- The type of medical treatment your injuries require
- How long your injuries will take to heal
- Whether or not your injuries will require future care or surgery
Calculating Pain and Suffering
Negotiations for a personal injury claim settlement require calculations of a reasonable amount of money that will help a person resolve their claim. Most insurance companies will rely on a formula that will clue them into what a person’s case may be worth. These formulas include:
Multiplier Method
The multiplier method is used in the following way:
(medical bills x determined multiplier) + (total economic damages) = value of case
The determined multiplier in a personal injury case is a number between 1.5 and 5 and is decided based on the severity of a person’s injuries. This way, your pain and suffering will be worth at least 1.5 times the economic costs of repairing your injuries.
It is common for the insurance company’s estimation of pain and suffering damages to be much lower than the estimation of the injured party. Because of this, hiring M. Austin Jackson Attorney at Law for your personal injury case is advantageous for maximizing your settlement award.
Per Diem Method
There are some insurance companies and attorneys who use the per diem method to calculate pain and suffering damages. This method uses a daily figure to calculate pain and suffering compensation. This method uses a certain dollar amount that is paid each day from the time of the accident until the injured party reaches maximum medical improvement.
Determining Pain and Suffering Damages Is Subjective
It is no secret that coming up with a clear number that sufficiently accommodates for pain and suffering is not easy. Knowing how another person may feel after a back injury compared to another is nearly impossible and extremely subjective. This has caused many different methods to be used for calculating pain and suffering besides the per diem and multiplier methods. However, these methods are the most popular.
Damages Cannot Surpass The Insurance Coverage Amount
Whether the damages in a personal injury case are economic or non-economic, they will generally be limited by the coverage of the at-fault party’s insurance company. This means that a person may not sue an insurance company for millions of dollars if the insurance coverage that the at-fault party has a limit of $50,000.
There are some exceptions to this rule. For example, there may be other insurance policies involved in the case if someone’s injury was caused by a corporation or another entity other than a private citizen.
Pain and Suffering Damages in Your Case
It’s important to understand that insurance companies are not required to use the methods talked about above to calculate their version of pain and suffering damages. Many insurance companies will use complicated computer programs to determine how much money should be awarded for pain and suffering.
Insurance companies will also consider injuries that are treated by a doctor to be more serious than those treated by a chiropractor. Length of treatment is also a factor that insurance companies will take into account when determining what to offer an injured person.
Insurance companies will also rely on past data when determining the amount of pain and suffering damages they will award. This means that very little consideration of your actual suffering is taken into account. For example, if someone else with a back injury received $8,000 for their pain and suffering, you would most likely be offered a similar amount.
How Can M. Austin Jackson Attorney at Law Maximize My Pain and Suffering Award?
The more evidence you have that supports your case, the better chance you will have at recovering fair compensation. However, proving pain and suffering damages can be one of the more complicated issues that come about in a personal injury claim.
The personal injury lawyers at M. Austin Jackson Attorney at Law will work hard to make sure that your case has all of the necessary documented evidence. They will gather medical records, witness statements, and an expert’s testimony to verify that your injuries are causing you pain and suffering.
At M. Austin Jackson Attorney at Law, we take pride in reviewing every detail of your case to provide you with the best legal representation possible. We know how to deal with insurance companies and their lowball pain and suffering offers. We will work hard to make sure that your pain and suffering is not overlooked and that you are compensated fairly. Contact us now. The call is free.
