While there are no hard and fast rules about how insurance companies pay for pain and suffering damages, there are two common approaches to calculating this amount. The first is to add up all of the economic expenses including out-of-pocket costs, medical bills, and lost wages, and then multiply this amount by a total set number. That number is usually between 1.5 and 5 associated with the severity of the accident. This multiplier method is used for reaching total pain and suffering damages. People with attorneys often work directly with their lawyer to determine the best course of action in their case when it comes to damage amounts.
Another method to use in these circumstances is also known as the per day or per diem approach. A specific dollar amount is given each day from the date that the accident happened until when the plaintiff achieves maximum medical recovery. Note that reaching maximum medical recovery does not mean that you have fully recovered and healed from the accident. In fact, many people will continue to have devastating injuries and problematic pain for years following their incident. This means that reaching maximum medical recovery is simply the point at which your doctor does not think you will progress any further in your healing. Once you achieve this amount, this could be factored into the alternative calculation method.
If $100 was given as a per diem amount, for example, and it took a total of 300 days for an injury victim to get better, the pain and suffering damages come to $30,000. When trying to figure out how insurance companies calculate pain and suffering, you must also recognize that you may not be privy to the details they use to calculate these totals. Insurance companies use complicated computer systems to determine the amount they will offer someone for pain and suffering.
These programs are not visible to you, nor will they likely share the outcomes with you. However, they can evaluate the kind of medical treatments the person got, and the kind of injuries sustained. No matter how you find yourself in this situation, you need to have competent and knowledgeable legal representation to protect your best interests.
Although you cannot ever fully know how insurance companies total pain and suffering amounts, a lawyer who has been down this road before and who has advocated for other victims will be very familiar with the most common types of strategies and will be able to help and assist you during this process. You deserve to have an attorney who will take your case seriously and who will do everything possible to protect your rights. The insurance carrier is not interested in doing what is best for you, but rather what is best for them.