After an accident in which another person injures you, a lawsuit can be filed to recover your financial losses, as well as damages for pain and suffering. While economic damages can evaluated rather easily, calculating pain and suffering can be difficult without the help of our skilled attorneys.
Pain and suffering damages compensate you for the other harms you suffered that are not financially related, like the pain you live with and the emotional and psychological distress being injured often causes. Our team will have a good idea from the start of what your pain and suffering are worth based on our extensive experience with similar cases. However, we have a couple of methods we can use to get an accurate calculation of your non-economic losses. We can also identify barriers to recovering pain and suffering damages and discuss how to overcome them, such as insurance limitations for car accident victims.
Call Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C. today at (201) 777-1111 for a free case review with our New Jersey personal injury attorneys.
How Are Pain and Suffering Damages Calculated in New Jersey Personal Injury Claims?
The general point of a personal injury claim is to make good the losses a victim suffers because of another person’s negligence. In New Jersey, these losses are known as “compensatory damages,” which include “special” and “general” damages. Special damages is the legal term for the economic harm stemming from the incident, like medical expenses, property damage, and lost income. General damages account for all the other harms injury victims sustain that are non-monetary, which includes “pain and suffering,” and are regularly referred to as non-economic damages.
While evaluating economic damages is usually relatively straightforward, as they can be added up with bills and estimates, calculating non-economic damages can be a little tougher. The reason for this is that pain and suffering include a wide array of harms. The pain aspect generally refers to the pain victims experience in the accident, during treatment, and what they live with after treatment has ended. The suffering portion often accounts for numerous emotional, psychological, and personal effects of the accident, including emotional distress, loss of enjoyment in life, depression, and many others.
Fortunately, our NJ personal injury lawyers use a few approaches to help determine our clients’ pain and suffering so the compensation they rightly deserve is not lost. In some cases, we might use a daily value to assess pain and suffering. In others, we can use a number that corresponds to the severity of the injuries and how long the victim is likely to endure harm. In either situation, our team will fight for the most compensation possible for your pain and suffering.
The Multiplier Method
One approach for calculating your pain and suffering is known as the multiplier method. Under this scheme, we use the victim’s total amount of economic damages and multiply it by a specific number. This multiplier typically ranges from 1 to 5, with the exact number depending on the severity of the victim’s injuries and the overall impact of the accident.
For instance, injuries like spinal cord damage and brain trauma are some of the most devastating a person can sustain in an accident and will almost certainly have a higher multiplier. Broken bones, although painful, typically heal with proper medical treatment, so they will likely have a lower multiplier assigned. However, pain and suffering is highly subjective, and our team will argue for the highest multiplier possible by showing that your circumstances warrant more compensation.
You will need medical records to prove the severity and extent of your injuries, so do not forego the care you need. This includes going to all ongoing treatment appointments, as missing even one or two allows for insurance companies to argue that you contributed to the seriousness of your pain and suffering by missing treatment.
The Per Diem Method
Another approach we can use to calculate non-economic damages is through the per diem method. This technique involves assigning a specific monetary value for each day that you are likely to endure pain and suffering and multiplying it by how long it lasted or is projected to last.
For example, suppose we determine that each day of your pain and suffering is valued at $100, and the evidence supports our argument that you will live with it for a year. We would multiply $100 by 365 days, resulting in $36,500 in pain and suffering damages.
However, the values chosen under this approach cannot be random or arbitrary but must be supported by evidence like the method above. The per diem dollar amount is typically based on the severity of your daily income as a starting point, and our lawyers’ experience with cases similar to yours can help us fine-tune that amount. The duration is typically set from the date you are injured until you stop suffering or experiencing pain, which may be a date that already passed or an estimated future date. This calculation method is harder to use with open-ended estimates.
Are There Restrictions or Caps on Recovering Pain and Suffering Damages in New Jersey?
New Jersey bars pain and suffering in claims against public entities and public employees, according to N.J.S.A § 59:9-2(d). However, that limitation is removed in cases where victims suffer permanent loss of a bodily function, as well as permanent dismemberment or disfigurement where the medical expenses are greater than $3,600.
New Jersey’s no-fault insurance rules also bar pain and suffering in many claims. Not all car accident victims in NJ have an automatic right to file a lawsuit after a crash and can only recover economic damages through their insurance. To be compensated for pain and suffering, you must either have a “no limitation” insurance plan or have sustained serious injuries, according to § 39:6A-8.
Call Our Personal Injury Attorneys in NJ Today for Help Evaluating Your Damages
Contact our Jersey City, NJ personal injury attorneys at Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C. by calling (201) 777-1111 for a free case review.