An essential component of a personal injury settlement is pain and suffering. It’s important to understand the value of pain and suffering.
Our experienced Jacksonville personal injury lawyers at Horton & Mendez, Injury & Car Accident Attorneys explain what pain and suffering is worth in a Jacksonville personal injury claim.
What Is Pain and Suffering in a North Carolina Personal Injury Claim?
Pain and suffering in a North Carolina personal injury claim is a loss that is not directly financial. It includes physical and emotional loss, suffering, and anguish resulting from personal injury.
Pain and Suffering in Jacksonville, NC – What You Need To Know
If you suffer a personal injury in Jacksonville, NC, our attorneys want you to know:
- A personal injury claim may reflect pain and suffering, which includes car accidents, slip and falls, animal bites, and other kinds of injuries.
- When you have a personal injury, your losses are not just financial. As the victim, you already know this. You have intangible loss and suffering—your pain and suffering.
- Pain and suffering can be both physical and emotional.
- Just like economic compensation is based on the victim’s actual losses, pain and suffering is also individual. You have the right to compensation for the relative suffering you have endured.
- There is no rigid or fixed formula for calculating pain and suffering. That makes it especially important to support your claim with evidence and arguments.
The amount you may qualify to receive may surprise you. Many insurance companies – and victims themselves – undervalue compensation for pain and suffering. Your claim for compensation can – and should – reflect what you have endured.
The Multiplier Method vs. the Per Diem Method: Which Applies to Your Case?
North Carolina injury claims routinely use both the multiplier method and the per diem method in personal injury claims. You may use whichever method is most appropriate for your case. You want the one that produces the more appropriate result and the one that can be most easily explained to the jury.
Multiplier method
The multiplier method starts with economic damages. It then assigns a multiplier based on the severity of suffering. The multiplier might be 0.5 for mild injuries and up to 5 for severe, life-changing injuries. Most claims fall somewhere in the middle.
For example, if a person has $20,000 in economic damages and needs several weeks to recover, a multiplier of 0.5 may be appropriate. In that case, the person would claim $10,000 in non-economic damages for total compensation of $30,000.
If a person has severe injuries, they may be entitled to $200,000 in economic damages. If a multiplier of 5 is appropriate, they would seek $1 million in non-economic damages, for a total award of $1.2 million.
The multiplier method may be appropriate when you have economic loss that reflects the extent of physical suffering. Sometimes, monetary losses don’t adequately reflect suffering. In that case, the per diem method may be more appropriate.
Per diem method
The per diem method assigns a daily cost to each day of suffering. That total is the amount of non-economic compensation.
For example, a person suffers moderate injuries from a car accident. Recovery takes six months. The person seeks compensation for pain and suffering of $150 per day for the recovery period. The total is $270,000 for pain and suffering compensation. This amount is added to economic damages to arrive at the total value of the claim.
North Carolina Law for Personal Injury Pain and Suffering Settlements
In North Carolina, pain and suffering includes both physical and emotional pain. Emotional pain doesn’t have to be so severe that it would satisfy a standalone claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Instead, if a plaintiff proves negligence, they may claim damages that flow from it, including physical injury, mental injury, and pain and suffering.
Pain and suffering compensates a range of damages, including physical pain, anxiety, depression, and impact on lifestyle.
See Iadanza v. Harper.
The per diem method in North Carolina law
North Carolina law addressed the per diem method in the case of Thompson v. Kyles. The courts affirmed that personal injury victims have broad latitude to seek pain-and-suffering damages, including the per diem method.
The per diem argument is not evidence itself, but an illustration of the pain and suffering that the victim has endured. It helps the jury correlate the victim’s pain and suffering with the financial award the victim is seeking.
How Documentation Strengthens Your Pain and Suffering Claim
With no clear standard for what a pain and suffering settlement is worth in a Jacksonville personal injury claim, documentation to support your claim is especially important. Medical records, witness testimony, and activity logs can strengthen a claim for pain and suffering.
You must prove that you have pain and suffering, and that it is the result of the personal injury. You must prove its severity. An attorney can help you gather the evidence for your personal injury pain and suffering settlement.
See Jenkins v. Hines Co., where a North Carolina court stated that a pain and suffering award must be supported by evidence.
What Role Does Comparative Negligence Play in Your Jacksonville Injury Settlement?
North Carolina doesn’t follow comparative negligence. Instead, it uses strict contributory negligence. If you are at fault in any way for your personal injury claim, you can’t recover compensation. An experienced lawyer can help you fight allegations of fault.
Does North Carolina Cap Pain and Suffering Damages?
North Carolina caps pain and suffering damages only in medical malpractice cases. There is no cap on car accident, slip and fall, or premises liability claims. (See N.C.G.S. § 90-21.19)
How a Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer Maximizes Your Settlement
A Jacksonville personal injury lawyer can maximize your settlement by:
- Identifying the full extent of pain and suffering
- Gathering evidence
- Determining how to illustrate your pain and suffering
- Negotiating your settlement
- Settling your case on the right timeline or taking your case to trial
At Horton & Mendez, Injury & Car Accident Attorneys, we are full-service lawyers, handling personal injury claims, including pain and suffering settlements.
Talk to an Experienced Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer
Get the pain and suffering compensation that you deserve. Contact our experienced attorneys at Horton & Mendez, Injury & Car Accident Attorneys today.
