It can prove difficult to assess the dollar value for an accident victim’s pain and suffering. A fair payment would acknowledge all aspects of pain and suffering.
What are those aspects?
• Physical pain
• Physical discomfort
• An emotional handicap, such as shyness or impatience
Problems that stir the emotions
• Stress
• Fear
• Grief
• Worry
• Inconvenience
• Insomnia
• Loss of enjoyment of life
Methods used by insurance adjusters, in order to calculate value of pain and suffering
Formula with multiplier: Here a summation of the medical expenses becomes one factor in a multiplication operation. The other factor is a number that should represent the severity of the reported injury. A figure of 1.5 would be used for minor injuries; a figure of 5 or more would be used for any catastrophic injuries. The value of the victim’s lost income would then be added to the product from the multiplication operation.
Per Diem method: A value must be placed on the victim’s daily pain and suffering. That value should be multiplied by the number of days in the victim’s recovery. The product would represent the dollar figure for the victim’s pain and suffering.
Using computer program: The computer’s software has been programmed to calculate the value for the victim’s pain and suffering. The software notes the existence of bills that have not come from the office of a medical doctor. Hence, the computer tends to overlook those same bills.
How Do Adjusters Use that Calculated Value?
Some adjusters use the calculated figure when choosing the number to present as the initial bid, at the start of negotiations. Almost all adjusters share the calculated figure with their supervisor.
Typically, supervisors urge each adjuster to calculate a given percent of the value provided by one of the available methods. Then that same value is supposed to get quoted, during the negotiations. Still, that does not mean that adjusters always use the same figure, when making an initial bid. The adjusters’ supervisors push them to take other factors into consideration.
Supervisors make sure that each adjuster knows whether or not a given claimant has chosen to hire a personal injury lawyer in St. Albert. Those that have made such an investment usually receive a higher bid. Those that have not bothered to pay for a legal counsel normally receive a much lower bid. Adjusters know that someone that lack’s a lawyer’s support is not apt to offer a strong challenge to any low bid.
So, multiple factors contribute to the size of the figure that gets associated with a given victim’s pain and suffering. The influential nature of each factor differs from claimant to claimant. Hence, a personal injury lawyer struggles to respond to this question: How much is my case worth?