How are settlement amounts for pain and suffering determined?

Settlement amounts for pain and suffering, otherwise known as general damages are more difficult to determine than special damages.  Special damages, which are economic in nature, include expenses like medical bills, rehabilitative care expenses, hospital stay, doctor’s fees, medication expenditure, lost wages, restoration or repair damaged properties, and many others. These damages are computed by adding up the total cost of all the expenses incurred. Receipts and expenses documents are necessary for this purpose.

General damages, on the other hand, are non economic and pertain to physical and emotional pain and suffering, physical disfigurement, disability, emotional losses, anxiety, depression, stress, loss of consortium, personal relationship problems, and many more. It is more difficult to put a dollar value on these damages because they are not economic in nature. What insurance companies do is they calculate this type of damages by multiplying the amount of special damages by a single digit multiplier, which is usually one through five. The insurance company considers the gravity and invasiveness of the injuries sustained by the victim. For not so serious injuries, special damages are multiplied only by one. Five is used for very serious injuries while in rare cases where the injuries are extremely heavy, ten is used. Since pain and suffering is more difficult to determine than special damages, it is important that one consult a personal injury lawyer. A personal injury attorney will not only better assess the gravity of your condition but also be able to negotiate with insurance companies more effectively.