Have You Had it With Pain & Suffering?

If you have been unfortunate enough to have suffered from injuries sustained in a car wreck, knowing that it was caused by another driver's carelessness can make it feel so much worse. You should know that you do not need to suffer without getting compensated for your damages caused by another driver, you are entitled to several different forms of money damages. Medical expenses, a wrecked car and lost wages are a few things you are entitled to, and are pretty self-explanatory.

The term "pain and suffering," however, can seem confusing. Read on to learn more about this valuable facet of personal injury compensation and how to ensure you get paid for it.

Your pain and suffering damages

Can you put a price on pain and suffering? You can, and it happens all the time. Whether it's a personal injury judgment in court or a settlement offer outside of court, pain and suffering is a major component of money damages. If you can imagine the ways that your medical injuries have impacted your life, you can get an idea of what is meant by pain and suffering

The dollars and cents of pain and suffering

Pain and suffering, if you use the obvious explanation, is your discomfort, lack of sleep, missing out on playing with your children, getting left behind at work, mood disorders like depression and anxiety, and more. Since it's not possible to equate these damages with money, the dollar amount of your medical expenses are used. This method of paying accident victims for their pain and suffering does make sense when you consider the many parallels between the severity of your medical injuries and your misery in general.

Your medical expenses

In all likelihood, you are not actually having to pay your medical expense. Most people have auto insurance that covers medical expenses, at least up to a certain limit. You might want to pay attention to the mounting medical expense debt regardless, however, since that dollar amount can provide a clue as to how much you can expect in the form of payment for you pain and suffering.

The calculation

To determine how much you might be entitled to get from your wreck, you can plug some numbers into an online calculator. This calculator works by multiplying your medical expenses by a factor and then adding other damages, like your car, onto it. Caution must be used, however. Not everyone uses the same method for deciding on settlement amounts. Speak to your car accident attorney for more detailed information about what you can expect from your own claim.