Fair Settlements for Pain and Suffering in a Personal Injury Claim

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If you have a personal injury claim, you may wonder what kind of compensation you might expect in your settlement for your pain and suffering, or what kind of offer represents a fair settlement for your pain and suffering.

What Is the Average Pain and Suffering Settlement?

Most personal injury claims involve relatively minor injuries that heal within a few weeks. Therefore, the pain and suffering compensation for a settlement in one of these cases may not exceed $10,000. The severity of an injury is typically the most important factor in determining the value of a claim for pain and suffering. 

How Do Insurance Companies Determine Pain and Suffering Compensation?

However, insurance companies typically look at numerous factors in determining how much compensation (if any) to offer an accident victim for their pain and suffering. Examples of some of the factors that affect the size of a pain and suffering settlement include:

• Whether the accident victim suffered broken bones as opposed to just whiplash or other minor soft-tissue injuries
• Whether the accident victim required surgery
• Whether you share in any fault for the accident and your injuries
• Whether you have suffered any permanent injuries or disabilities
• Whether you have lost wages
• Whether you have outstanding medical bills
• What juries have awarded for pain and suffering in similar accident cases -- juries are usually required to award a specific dollar amount for pain and suffering in their verdicts

The More Severe the Accident, the Greater the Pain and Suffering Settlement Usually Is

Your pain and suffering settlement is likely to be higher if you were involved in a particularly severe accident -- for example, if you were injured in a car accident where your accident was totaled. Even if you’ve only suffered soft-tissue injuries in an accident, if the photos from the accident scene look pretty bad, it becomes a little easier to get the insurance company to pay you pain and suffering compensation or to pay you a larger settlement for pain and suffering.

How Do You Prove Pain and Suffering

The best evidence for proving pain and suffering and increasing the value of your pain and suffering settlement are your medical records and expenses. It is important that you let your treating providers know of all your complaints, how much pain you are experiencing, and how your injuries affect your personal and professional life; your doctors will note your complaints in your record. Other parts of your medical record, such as photographs of your injuries or video of medical procedures you underwent can also help strengthen your claim. Your treating physicians can also write reports offering their expert opinion as to the pain or difficulties that your injuries have caused you and will cause you in the future. 

In addition, it can also help to have a contemporaneous record of how your injuries affect your life, such as by keeping a diary or journal.

Finally, testimony from family, friends, and colleagues about how your injuries have affected you can provide further strengthening of your claim and increase the value of your pain and suffering settlement.

Contact a Rochelle Park Personal Injury Lawyer to Discuss Your Case in New Jersey

Did you or a loved one sustain serious injuries in New Jersey? Don’t let the medical bills pile up while you wait for the negligent party or their insurance company to do the right thing. Right now, you need an aggressive personal injury attorney on your side, fighting to get you the compensation you need, want, and deserve. The skilled attorneys at The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. represent clients injured in Fair Lawn, Fort Lee, Garfield, Mahwah, and throughout New Jersey. Call 201-231-7847 or fill out our online contact form to schedule a free consultation about your case. We have an office conveniently located at 340 West Passaic Street, Rochelle Park, NJ 07662.

The articles on this blog are for informative purposes only and are no substitute for legal advice or an attorney-client relationship. If you are seeking legal advice, please contact our law firm directly.