Forgetting things is easy, we’ve all done it. You rush out the door without something absolutely essential. Since forgetting things is a breeze when life is going great, just imagine how easy it is after an accident. You’ve got a ton going on after an accident, even if your injuries are considered relatively minor.
When it’s time to start the personal injury claim process, it’s easy to forget to list damages like your mental anguish. Calculating pain and suffering in a personal injury claim can be challenging, even with a calculator. This is something you don’t want to forget. A significant part of your claim’s value is often made up of your non-economic damages like pain and suffering.
What Are Non-Economic Damages in Personal Injury Claims?
You probably have a pretty good idea of what your economic damages are. These are things like your medical expenses, property damage costs, and lost income. Basically, any damage you suffer that has a price tag is considered an economic loss.
This brings us to your non-economic damages. You’ve probably guessed these are intangible losses, meaning they don’t come with a handy price tag. Some common examples of non-economic damages showing up in personal injury claims typically include:
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of life enjoyment
- Loss of consortium
- Worsening of pre-existing injuries or health conditions
- Humiliation
- Reputational damage
The purpose of listing non-economic damages is so accident victims can receive compensation for the impact their injury is having on their lives. We should also note some states lump non-economic damages together as pain and suffering. Other states allow you to list each damage separately. To avoid an automatic injury claim denial, check with your state’s guidelines or ask your personal injury attorney.
How to Calculate Your Non-Economic Losses
Just when you think you’re about finished figuring out your accident claim’s value, there’s another section to deal with. Figuring out the value of your economic damages may not be a breeze but it’s not too complicated.
Gather up every bill, receipt, and estimate relating to your accident. If you’re claiming lost income, you’re going to need your past pay stubs. Grab your calculator and start totaling everything up. Don’t forget about prescription costs. This is an easy one to forget but there’s no reason why you should pay out of your pocket. The total of all of your bills and receipts is the value of your economic damages.
Now it’s time to move on to your non-economic damages so keep the calculator close by. You can use either the multiplier or per diem method to figure out what you should claim as your non-economic losses.
Using the Multiplier Method
Take a minute to think about the pain and suffering your injuries are causing. Now, assign it a number between 1.5 and 5. The higher the number the greater your pain and mental agony. Now, go back to the total of your economic losses. This is also when the calculator is going to come in handy.
Multiply the total of your economic damages by the number you assigned your pain and suffering. So, if your economic losses are valued at $500,000 and you picked the number 2, your non-economic losses equal $1 million. Even though this is a fair and accepted way of calculating your non-economic losses, the multiplier method isn’t always the best formula to use. You may not be claiming the full value of your pain and suffering.
Using the Per Diem Method
This method of calculating your non-economic losses is often used when injuries are severe. You’re going to need to figure out your average daily take-home pay so break out your pay stubs. After figuring out what your average daily wage is, think back to the accident day. Now start counting the number of days you experienced pain and suffering.
Don’t take it too far like counting a hangnail as a serious injury. While painful and annoying, it’s not going to fly past the insurance adjuster. All you’re probably doing is dragging out the time it takes to settle your personal injury claim. Let’s say you experienced pain for 40 days and your average daily pay is around $200. Your formula is going to look like the following,
40 (number of days you’re in pain) x 200 (you’re average daily pay) = $8,000. Yep, this total is significantly lower than what you got using the multiplier method. However, it can also work the other way so it’s usually best to use both formulas. This way you can ensure you’re receiving fair compensation for your pain and suffering.
Why Bother Calculating Non-Economic Losses
If the thought of calculating additional damages has you grabbing your hair in frustration, you’re not alone. All you want is to settle your personal injury claim and focus on recovering from the accident. Don’t worry, you’ll get there but don’t ignore your non-economic losses. There are a few excellent reasons why you want to take the time and effort.
Non-economic losses can make up a significant part of your accident claim’s value. Forgetting about these damages is a lot like leaving money behind. You typically don’t leave money behind when you’re out shopping or eating at a restaurant. So, why start now?
Your economic damages tend to go straight towards paying your bills. Not only do you have medical costs but there are probably legal fees. Most personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fee basis and this means paying your lawyer out of your settlement.
By the time you’re done paying off the various bills, there’s probably not much left of your economic damages. This is where non-economic losses come in. This is often a bit of extra money accident victims can use to get on with their lives. Even though calculating the damages can be a pain, don’t skip this step.
If you’re working with a personal injury attorney, you may not even need to grab a calculator. Your attorney can handle figuring out the total value of your accident claim.
Image by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexel.
The editorial staff of Medical News Bulletin had no role in the preparation of this post. The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the advertiser and do not reflect those of Medical News Bulletin. Medical News Bulletin does not accept liability for any loss or damages caused by the use of any products or services, nor do we endorse any products, services, or links in our Sponsored Articles.
Forgetting things is easy, we’ve all done it. You rush out the door without something absolutely essential. Since forgetting things is a breeze when life is going great, just imagine how easy it is after an accident. You’ve got a ton going on after an accident, even if your injuries are considered relatively minor. When it’s time to start the personal injury claim process, it’s easy to forget to list damages like your mental anguish. Calculating pain and suffering in a personal injury claim can be challenging, even with a calculator. This is something you don’t want to forget. A significant part of your claim’s value is often made up of your non-economic damages like pain and suffering. You probably have a pretty good idea of what your economic damages are. These are things like your medical expenses, property damage costs, and lost income. Basically, any damage you suffer that has a price tag is considered an economic loss. This brings us to your non-economic damages. You’ve probably guessed these are intangible losses, meaning they don’t come with a handy price tag. Some common examples of non-economic damages showing up in personal injury claims typically include: The purpose of listing non-economic damages is so accident victims can receive compensation for the impact their injury is having on their lives. We should also note some states lump non-economic damages together as pain and suffering. Other states allow you to list each damage separately. To avoid an automatic injury claim denial, check with your state’s guidelines or ask your personal injury attorney. Just when you think you’re about finished figuring out your accident claim’s value, there’s another section to deal with. Figuring out the value of your economic damages may not be a breeze but it’s not too complicated. Gather up every bill, receipt, and estimate relating to your accident. If you’re claiming lost income, you’re going to need your past pay stubs. Grab your calculator and start totaling everything up. Don’t forget about prescription costs. This is an easy one to forget but there’s no reason why you should pay out of your pocket. The total of all of your bills and receipts is the value of your economic damages. Now it’s time to move on to your non-economic damages so keep the calculator close by. You can use either the multiplier or per diem method to figure out what you should claim as your non-economic losses. Take a minute to think about the pain and suffering your injuries are causing. Now, assign it a number between 1.5 and 5. The higher the number the greater your pain and mental agony. Now, go back to the total of your economic losses. This is also when the calculator is going to come in handy. Multiply the total of your economic damages by the number you assigned your pain and suffering. So, if your economic losses are valued at $500,000 and you picked the number 2, your non-economic losses equal $1 million. Even though this is a fair and accepted way of calculating your non-economic losses, the multiplier method isn’t always the best formula to use. You may not be claiming the full value of your pain and suffering. This method of calculating your non-economic losses is often used when injuries are severe. You’re going to need to figure out your average daily take-home pay so break out your pay stubs. After figuring out what your average daily wage is, think back to the accident day. Now start counting the number of days you experienced pain and suffering. Don’t take it too far like counting a hangnail as a serious injury. While painful and annoying, it’s not going to fly past the insurance adjuster. All you’re probably doing is dragging out the time it takes to settle your personal injury claim. Let’s say you experienced pain for 40 days and your average daily pay is around $200. Your formula is going to look like the following, 40 (number of days you’re in pain) x 200 (you’re average daily pay) = $8,000. Yep, this total is significantly lower than what you got using the multiplier method. However, it can also work the other way so it’s usually best to use both formulas. This way you can ensure you’re receiving fair compensation for your pain and suffering. If the thought of calculating additional damages has you grabbing your hair in frustration, you’re not alone. All you want is to settle your personal injury claim and focus on recovering from the accident. Don’t worry, you’ll get there but don’t ignore your non-economic losses. There are a few excellent reasons why you want to take the time and effort. Non-economic losses can make up a significant part of your accident claim’s value. Forgetting about these damages is a lot like leaving money behind. You typically don’t leave money behind when you’re out shopping or eating at a restaurant. So, why start now? Your economic damages tend to go straight towards paying your bills. Not only do you have medical costs but there are probably legal fees. Most personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fee basis and this means paying your lawyer out of your settlement. By the time you’re done paying off the various bills, there’s probably not much left of your economic damages. This is where non-economic losses come in. This is often a bit of extra money accident victims can use to get on with their lives. Even though calculating the damages can be a pain, don’t skip this step. If you’re working with a personal injury attorney, you may not even need to grab a calculator. Your attorney can handle figuring out the total value of your accident claim. Image by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexel. The editorial staff of Medical News Bulletin had no role in the preparation of this post. The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the advertiser and do not reflect those of Medical News Bulletin. Medical News Bulletin does not accept liability for any loss or damages caused by the use of any products or services, nor do we endorse any products, services, or links in our Sponsored Articles.
What Are Non-Economic Damages in Personal Injury Claims?
How to Calculate Your Non-Economic Losses
Using the Multiplier Method
Using the Per Diem Method
Why Bother Calculating Non-Economic Losses
