Pain and suffering is separate from medical bills. Pain and suffering accounts for the physical and emotional trauma of getting hurt. Your medical bills account for the healthcare expenses your injury caused.
How much you can recover for your injury-related losses depends on your situation. A personal injury lawyer can evaluate your situation and explain how much you can seek.
What Is Pain and Suffering?
As noted, pain and suffering reflects the challenges brought on by your injuries. Unlike your medical bills, it does not come with a solid dollar value.
Various aspects of your situation will dictate how much you can recover, including:
- Your quality of life
- Your missed time from work
- Your mental health
- Your independence and mobility
- The cost of your medical bills and other associated losses
Florida does not cap pain and suffering in many situations. However, if you suffered harm due to medical malpractice, you cannot recover more than $500,000 in non-economic damages – which includes pain and suffering.
You Can Recover Both Economic and Non-Economic Damages
When you get hurt, you can pursue compensation for each aspect of your injury-related losses, including those without set financial values. In general, you can seek:
Economic Damages (Financial Losses)
Your healthcare expenses are just one thing you can recover after getting hurt. It can account for your past, present, and future treatments.
Other non-economic damages you can recover include:
- Lost income
- Loss of future earning capacity
- Property damage expenses
- Childcare costs
- Transportation expenses
- Funeral and burial fees
Your injury-related billing statements, invoices, and receipts can help your lawyer determine what you’re owed.
Non-Economic Damages (Non-Financial Losses)
In addition to pain and suffering, recoverable non-economic damages include:
- Scarring
- Disability
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium
- Disfigurement
You may recover other losses than those listed here.
How Are Your Damages Calculated?
Many injured claimants wonder how much they can pursue for pain and suffering. When you partner with a lawyer, they’ll determine how much you can recover. They’ll examine the severity of your injuries, the types of treatments you required, and whether you can return to work.
Your lawyer may employ the multiplier method to determine what you deserve for pain and suffering. With this method, your lawyer will add up your financial losses, then multiply that amount with a number between 1.5 and five. The sum is what you can recover for pain and suffering.
In general, the more severe your injuries, the more you can recover. It’s worth noting that many insurance companies do not provide compensation for pain and suffering. So, you could recover this loss through a lawsuit. A lawyer from our team can explain more.
These Situations Could Warrant Compensation for Pain and Suffering
If you or a loved one suffered harm due to another party’s negligence, you can seek medical bills, pain and suffering, and a host of other damages. Injured claimants can pursue damages after suffering harm due to:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Bus collisions
- Bicycle and pedestrian collisions
- Medical malpractice
- Miami nursing home abuse or neglect
- Premises liability incidents, including slips and falls
- On-the-job accidents
You can also seek damages if you lost a loved one. Compensation could account for your loved one’s pain and suffering and end-of-life healthcare expenses.
This Information Can Support Your Right to Damages
You want to recover everything possible to pay for your injury-related losses. Yet, you can’t just send a demand letter to the insurer and expect compensation. You need supporting evidence to back up the amount you’re requesting.
Supporting evidence in your case could comprise:
- Your medical bills
- Testimony from your doctor
- Statements from third-party field consultants
- Property repair invoices and billing statements
- Your employment records
You don’t have to worry about gathering documentation with a lawyer on your side. They can consult with economists, healthcare providers, and other professionals to calculate what you can recover.
Your Percentage of Fault Could Affect How Much You Can Recover
Florida’s a no-fault state, meaning that you can file a claim with your own insurer to recover compensation. However, Florida also works on a comparative negligence system. So, if you caused part of your accident, you can still seek damages. Yet, this will limit how much you can recover.
To understand this law better, consider this scenario:
- You were visiting a friend’s house and used their swimming pool.
- Your small child was running around the pool, and you chased after them.
- You fell, tripping on a hole in the deck.
- You fractured your arm.
- You have $10,000 in damages.
After filing your claim, the insurer might say you were 20 percent at fault (because you were running), and the property owner is 80 percent at fault (because a hazard on their property hurt you). So, because you were partially at fault, instead of recovering the full $10,000, you could recover $8,000.
Contact the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine for a Free Consultation
Pain and suffering is separate from your medical bills. It’s also separate from other damages you can recover. The Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine will handle all your legal needs, from filing your claim to negotiating a settlement.
To begin your free case review, dial 1-800-747-3733.
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