How does the value of an accident victim’s pain and suffering get calculated, following submission of an injury-linked claim?
What aspects of discomfort contribute to the various feelings that come under the heading of “pain and suffering”?
Naturally, there is the actual, physical pain. According to our legal system, a personal injury lawyer in Spruce Grove has the right to seek compensation for both a client’s existing pain and his or her future pain.
In addition, there is the suffering that has resulted from a number of problems. Those problems would include anger, distress, fear, humiliation, anxiety, shock, and other negative emotions. Other potential problems could be negative influences, such as bad dreams, or evidence of an altered attitude towards life, as demonstrated by loss of appetite, mood swings or lack of energy.
How do insurance companies attach a dollar figure to pain and suffering?
First, the insurance companies look at the dollar values that are part of the plaintiff’s evidence. Those are the totals on all of the plaintiff’s medical bills. Then the insurance adjuster performs a calculation, using the known dollar values.
The initial calculation, part of a special formula involves adding up the total from all of the medical bills. Then that is multiplied by a figure called a multiplier. That multiplier is usually a number between 1.5 and 4, though it could be 5 or more. The greater the plaintiff’s estimated discomfort, the larger the selected multiplier.
After the multiplier has been become one factor in a multiplication operation, with the total for all the bills as the other factor, the insurer is close to determining the value for the suffering. The product from the multiplication gets added to the value of the plaintiff’s lost income. The insurer views that final figure as an estimate for the value of the pain and suffering.
What other factors can affect the value of a plaintiff’s pain and suffering?
The plaintiff’s performance as a witness: Does the jury trust the veracity of the offered testimony?
The plaintiff’s demeanor, when on the witness stand: Does he or she appear uneasy or frightened? Does he or she seem ill at ease? Any behavior that might create doubt in a juror’s mind could reduce the chances that the plaintiff would get fairly compensated for the accident-linked injuries.
Delivery of consistent statements by the plaintiff: If a defense lawyer was to note some inconsistency, then that would be brought to the juror’s attention. Naturally, the members of the jury might then feel compelled to reduce the size of the any awarded compensation funds.
Support for injury claims, as given in the medical report. That should prove helpful, unless the jury fails to understand the report’s contents.