Do Insurance Companies Give Personal Injury Compensation for Pain and Suffering?

Car accidents frequently result in personal injuries and damage, leaving car insurance companies in the position of determining fair, just, and reasonable standards for assigning damage compensation. If you have been involved in a car accident, you may wonder what personal injury compensation you will be able to receive if you settle with the insurance company.

Will an Insurance Company Pay Me For Pain and Suffering?

When you are injured in an accident, your car insurance company will have an adjuster examine the facts of the case to determine:

Who is at fault,
Who is eligible for damages, and
How much those damages are to be.

Insurance companies can offer personal injury compensation for monetary damages, like medical bills, rehabilitation, repairing or replacing damaged vehicles and other property, and more.

Insurance companies can also compensate for non-monetary damages, such as pain and suffering, but do so much less frequently and fully than they do with monetary damages. General damages, such as pain and suffering, are more intangible, and as a result insurance companies have far more flexibility in determining what is a fair and reasonable settlement.

This is particularly true if an insurance company utilizes the services of a computer program to help calculate personal injury compensation. These computer programs are highly controversial, and insurance companies tend to use them under a cloud of secrecy. Detractors of such programs argue that an insurance company cannot value a human being’s pain and suffering based on a computer’s algorithms. (See more How Insurance Companies Fight Personal Injury Lawsuits).

How Do Insurance Company's Determine Pain and Suffering

Non-monetary compensation is commonly called “specials” or “general damages” in the insurance industry, and it is determined on a case-by-case basis. Most often, insurance adjusters will utilize some sort of formula when assessing pain and suffering damages.

When an adjuster finds that injuries were relatively minor in an accident, they will multiply “special” damages by a figure of 1.5 or up to 2. This allows for pain and suffering compensation based on the relative simplicity of the injury.

When injuries are much more severe and long lasting, the amount of special damages are multiplied by numbers from 2 to up to 5. For the most severe injuries, or ones involving permanent incapacitation, such as vegetative states and paralysis, these special damages amounts might be multiplied by 10 or higher.

How Do I Know What My Insurance Company Will Do?

Communicate regularly with your insurance company and/or adjuster to determine what they are doing to compensate you for pain and suffering. If you feel you are not being adequately compensated, consider hiring an attorney to address your concerns.

Getting Help

If you are concerned that you are not receiving adequate compensation for your injury, you need to consult with a qualified personal injury attorney. He can help you to negotiate with the insurance company and to better understand your right to personal injury compensation.

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