24 July 2023
 Categories: Law, Blog

While you may anticipate a personal injury case to be physically challenging, it can be emotionally challenging as well. This is especially true if you are injured due to the negligence of another person. While you should get your medical expenses reimbursed when your injury is caused by another person, you may want to seek pain and suffering damages as well. Here is what you need to know about this unique type of compensation that can be awarded. 

What Exactly Is Pain And Suffering Compensation?

The purpose of pain and suffering compensation is to help you deal with the distress caused by another person. While you don't have an economic loss associated with pain and suffering damages, you deserve to be compensated for the emotional pain you are going through. It is often awarded in instances where an injury has affected your quality of life due to the unintended emotional impact. 

What Kind Of Pain And Suffering Damages Exist?

There are a few types of damages that fall under pain and suffering. The main one is physical pain, which is to compensate you for the discomfort that you experienced due to the injury and recovery. Emotional distress covers all of the psychological effects caused by the injury. This includes depression, anxiety, and emotional trauma that impacts your daily life.

You may also experience loss of enjoyment, which is when someone cannot participate in various activities because of their injury. Loss of consortium is when an injury impacts a person's relationship with other people.

How Do You Calculate Pain And Suffering? 

It can be confusing how pain and suffering compensation is calculated, which is because there is no bill associated with the damage. There are a variety of factors used to help put a dollar amount to the pain and suffering though. This includes how severe your injury is, how long it will take to recover, how your injury impacts your daily life, and your chance of having a full recovery.

While there is no formula to calculate pain and suffering damages, it is possible to look at what similar cases have been awarded in the past. This can give you a great idea of what to expect for your specific injury case.

Have more questions about pain and suffering damages? Reach out to a personal injury attorney for more information. They can help look at your specific injury and let you know how much compensation you can expect.