The worth of pain and suffering depends on your slip-and-fall claim’s unique details. Depending on the elements and factors involved, its value may vary from a few thousand dollars to millions. Leading considerations include where and how you were injured and the magnitude of your injuries and suffering.
Severe or permanent injuries may attract the highest values for slip-and-fall claims because the resultant pain could last a lifetime. The at-fault party’s insurance coverage and assets also determine what you’ll get.
If you’re experiencing pain and suffering resulting from injuries caused by someone else’s negligence or wrongful act, you can sue for compensation. Working with an experienced Pacific West Injury Attorney will help you recover the deserved compensation from the slip-and-fall claim.
The Value of a Slip-and-Fall Lawsuit
There’s no one standard number. Various case elements will determine the compensation a slip-and-fall victim gets. The primary factors that determine your injuries’ worth include, but aren’t limited to:
- The resultant economic damages – You’ll arrive at this by calculating the medical bills you’ve incurred, including emergency services, healthcare facility treatment, surgeries, medication, rehabilitative and physical therapy, and the additional cost of retrofitting the home or assistive walking devices.
- The need for future treatment – If the injury victim requires future treatment, the negotiations will include future treatment cost estimates. Expert insights will help determine the precise amount and extent of future treatment.
- Lost wages – If the injuries prevented you from working for a particular duration, the lost wages would be considered in the compensation.
- Future income-earning challenges or limitations – If the resultant injuries can prevent the victim from working in the future, the potential wages’ economic value will be tabulated. The value may include estimated future wage increases.
- Non-economic damages – The physical harm inflicted on a person will also matter. Non-economic damages comprise the actual injury and the different elements of pain and suffering.
The Critical Elements of a Pain and Suffering Claim
There are different categories of pain and suffering. The following elements are considered when determining the value:
Physical Pain and Suffering
Physical injuries resulting from slip-and-fall incidents may last for weeks, months, years. Sometimes these injuries can be permanent. The value of physical pain and suffering will depend on the injury’s severity and anything the victim does to cope.
The specific injuries that qualify for pain and suffering compensation include:
- Traumatic brain injury
- Neck and back pain
- Chronic headaches
- Broken bones
- Nerve damage
- Joint dislocations
- Internal organ damage
- Paralysis
- Sprained or pulled muscles
Emotional Pain and Suffering
Besides the physical injuries, slip-and-fall accident survivors may also cope with emotional distress after the accident. For instance, if the accident left them paralyzed, they may undergo devastating psychological trauma when adjusting to their new way of life.
Here are some examples of psychological injuries that qualify for pain and suffering compensation:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Psychological trauma
- Anger
- Anxiety
- Grief
- Diminishment or loss of quality of life
- Cognitive challenges resulting from a traumatic brain injury
Loss of Consortium
This is compensation awarded to the slip-and-fall injury victim’s family members who’ve lost the benefits of the relationship when their loved one is injured or succumbs to slip-and-fall injuries caused by another person’s negligence. After a preventable accident, mental anguish and grief can devastate family dynamics; hence, it makes sense to seek compensation.
Loss of consortium compensation may cover the loss of:
- Companionship
- Care
- Parental guidance
- Love and affection
- Spousal intimacy
- Household services
Calculating Pain and Suffering in a Slip-and-Fall Accident Claim
Like other general damages, it’s hard to pin dollar amounts on general damages. But insurance companies and attorneys use several approaches to calculate the value of pain and suffering as an element of the injury settlement.
The two most common methods include:
Multiplier Approach
The most common calculation method involves adding up all the easy-to-calculate economic losses and multiplying the value by a number between 1.5 (low end) and 4 or 5 (high end).
The second number is known as the multiplier. It depends on factors like injury severity, anticipated time for complete recovery, how the injuries affect your daily life, and whether the other party was clearly responsible. This is the settlement negotiation’s sticking point.
The Daily Rate Approach
Also called the “per diem” approach, this method demands a specific dollar amount for the victim’s struggle with pain and suffering each day.
Finding the preferred daily rate is the trickiest part of this method, but you can use your actual daily income to determine a “reasonable” daily rate. The argument here is that dealing with the pain each day is (at least) equivalent to your daily work effort. However, this approach falls apart with long-term or permanent injuries.
Evidence of Pain in Your Medical Records
It’s essential to be thorough when communicating with healthcare providers regarding general damages.
Ensure you report any discomfort or pain you’re experiencing because the insurance adjuster will only consider your report as accurate if a qualified healthcare professional writes it down as part of your health records. Otherwise, they can dispute the same pain and suffering report if it comes only from you.
Your Deadline for Filing a Pain and Suffering Claim After a Slip-and-Fall Accident
Time matters and can immensely affect your case outcome. Nevada statute of limitations requires injury victims to file their injury claims within two years from the slip-and-fall accident date.
Failure to meet this timeline could nullify your case. The party you’re holding accountable for your injuries and insurance company could use this discrepancy against you, and the law will favor their argument.
An Experienced Pain and Suffering Attorney Is Ready to Help
It’s difficult to argue a pain and suffering claim yourself after a slip-and-fall accident if you don’t know the relevant laws. But an experienced pain and suffering attorney will help you beat unscrupulous insurance companies and other hurdles.
Fortunately, you don’t have to search anymore. A reputable pain and suffering attorney from Pacific West injury Law is ready to fight for the deserved compensation. So speak with us at any time of the day, and we’ll evaluate your claim for free.
