Understanding Pain & Suffering in a Personal Injury Case
While it is commonly known that the victims of someone else’s negligent behavior are able to recover costs such as medical bills and lost wages following an accident injury, this isn’t where your right to recover damages after being injured ends. Once you and your attorney have successfully demonstrated that the adverse party is liable for your injuries, you should of course obtain the funds needed to cover the money that has been expended in pursuit of your healing. But in fact, obtaining the amount that you deserve after incurring a personal injury should actually include compensation for pain and suffering.
What is Pain and Suffering?
Although many people have heard the term pain and suffering, few understand what it really means, especially in the context of a personal injury case. As a legal term, pain and suffering is the physical and emotional stress caused from an injury. And while determining a dollar amount may not be as simple as with recovering for other expenses, the good news is that Florida law dictates that an injured party can ask a jury to compensate them for both economic and non-economic damages. Pain and suffering may be awarded in a variety of circumstances including for everything from the physical and mental implications of losing a limb to the stress of knowing you have missed an important event due to your injuries.
Calculating Pain and Suffering
Many factors go into determining the value of a victim’s pain and suffering and for this reason, there is no set amount you might be guaranteed when it comes to awards for pain and suffering. Some things that may be considered in determining the amount of compensation include:
- Your consistency in your statements regarding your injury
- Whether you have witnesses and how credible they are
- The amount with which your current injuries seem consistent with your diagnosis and with the circumstances of the accident itself
Documentation that Can Help Maximize Your Pain and Suffering
Because many people are less familiar with the details of pain and suffering, it can be difficult to understand which documents you should keep up with that can actually be useful to proving your claim. The following can be helpful in maximizing the value of your claim:
- Pictures or videos of the accident scene
- Pictures or videos of your injury
- Accident reports and any citations or tickets
- Witness statements and contact information
- Your insurance policy information
- Relevant medical records
- The contact information for your doctors
- Any correspondence sent to you by the other party, including settlement offers
Are You Trying to Understand Your Right to Pain and Suffering?
Despite your best efforts, tragedies can still occur. If you or someone you love was injured in a car accident, you may need to seek legal help to ensure that your rights are protected. As the knowledgeable Orlando personal injury attorneys of the Pendas Law Firm, we can help simplify the process of pursuing a personal injury claim while striving to help you obtain the compensation you deserve. Contact us today for a no-cost consultation.
The Pendas Law Firm also represents clients in the Jacksonville, Ocala, Tampa, Bradenton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Fort Myers and Daytona Beach areas.
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