Your personal injury lawyer will tell you that there are no ‘hard and fast rules’ an insurance adjuster uses when determining pain and suffering. However, there are some common factors that are taken into consideration. They are the subject of this article.
If you’ve ever been involved in a personal injury accident, you’ll hire a personal injury lawyer and file a third-party claim with the defendant’s insurance company. It’s up to you and your lawyer to prove the defendant’s guilt and to provide evidence supporting that. This evidence is crucial in helping the insurance adjuster determine the true value of all of your losses, especially pain and suffering.
How does your insurance adjuster define ‘pain and suffering?’
Personal injury lawyers know that ‘pain and suffering’ is an umbrella term for all emotional suffering and trauma you may have endured because of your personal injury accident. This includes emotional grief, depression, anxiety, stress, and other emotional feelings.
Your personal injury lawyer in National City will tell you that your chances of winning a settlement for pain and suffering are very high. You’ll also be told that your settlement part for pain and suffering will likely be substantial since pain and suffering is a serious and major part of any personal injury accident.
How does your insurance adjuster calculate damages for pain and suffering?
The adjuster and the insurance company are both fully aware of the real value of your personal injury claim. The problem is that you are not aware of what the insurance adjuster is willing to pay and the insurance adjuster is unaware of what you will accept as a settlement amount. There are no established rules adjusters can use to calculate pain and suffering. That said, they use a general rule of thumb. They can use 2 methods to do this. Either they can use a multiplier between 1 and 5 and multiply that by your tangible losses. They can also give you a daily stipend of perhaps a thousand dollars. You’ll receive that stipend until you’ve reached a state of recovery where you can’t recover anymore. This is called the state of maximum medical recovery (MMR.)
Do you know how to prove pain and suffering?
Your personal injury lawyer will tell you that because of its nature, proving pain and suffering is no ‘cakewalk!’ You’ll have to provide lots of evidence in the form of doctor’s notes, photographs, medical records, personal documentation, eyewitness statements, and more!
You’ll need to hire a personal injury lawyer because a personal injury lawyer is trained in helping people with cases like yours obtain the settlement that they want, need, and deserve. This person will also inform you if he or she thinks the insurance adjuster is giving you a fair settlement.