The Price Tag for Pain and Suffering Damages

What are pain and suffering damages?

The basic answer is that damages for pain and suffering are the amount of money that a person receives for the physical and emotional losses caused from an injury. "Tort Reformers" sometimes refer to these as "Non-Economic Damages." North Carolina, as well as many states, has placed certain caps or limits on Non-Economic Damages. Most folks understand these injuries as the human losses caused by an event or injury.

Calculating and deciding on the dollar value for pain and suffering is rarely an easy task for a jury. The amount of dollars in compensation for pain and suffering are not just pulled out of thin air. They essentially have to put a price tag on things that don't carry a monetary value. Juries, attorneys and insurance companies don't have a scientific formula to follow and no two people or injuries are alike. There are many factors taken into consideration when trying to put a value on Pain and Suffering Damages.

What factors are used to determine the value of Pain & Suffering Damages?

繚 Job/income

繚 Age

繚 Community/lifestyle

繚 Marital status/family Situation

繚 Evidence

繚 Location of injury and claim

繚 Attitude/witness quality

繚 Pre-existing injuries

繚 Tolerance of pain

繚 Medical treatment

繚 Duration of the loss

Our extensive experience is trying cases tells us that the human losses are often the greatest losses. The broken leg may heal, the lost wages can get repaid (with interest); but the missed wedding, child's birthday or other life event will be forever lost.

The degree of change and affect in the above factors because of the injury will help create a complete picture for juries and insurance companies and impact the money verdict sufficient to equal the human losses. As said before, no two people and injuries are the same. Even if two people have suffered the same injury, other factors in their life will affect the dollar amount necessary to balance the human losses they experienced from an injury. Lawyers and insurance companies use some tools to help them arrive at a figure. Past jury verdicts and and similar settlements can provide a general base in deciding a range with the purpose of determining how much to "demand" from the other party or how much to ask a jury in compensation. An experienced personal injury attorney will know how to assess the value of your pain and suffering--what factors to include and what resources to utilize.