If you were seriously injured in a car accident, you may experience losses that go beyond the medical expenses, lost wages, and property damage associated with the accident. Oftentimes, the trauma of the crash and the severity of your injuries can cause ongoing physical pain, emotional distress, insomnia, anxiety, and difficulty enjoying activities you once loved. These are known as pain and suffering damages, or non-economic damages. Although these losses are more difficult to quantify than economic damages, they often represent a substantial portion of a personal injury settlement. An experienced personal injury lawyer will discuss the damages to which you are entitled, assist you with each part of the claims process, and ensure that your legal rights are protected every step of the way.
What Non-Economic Damages Actually Cover
Pain and suffering damages are meant to compensate an injured person for the physical and emotional effects of an injury. Unlike medical bills, lost wages, and property damage, pain and suffering does not have a specific dollar amount. For example, you can obtain copies of your medical bills, pay stubs to show how much income you lost, and receipts for the cost to repair or replace your vehicle. However, there are no bills or receipts that demonstrate the cost of living with chronic pain from the accident. The following are examples of what non-economic damages cover:
- Physical pain caused by the injury
- Emotional distress
- Discomfort during treatment and recovery
- Permanent limitations
- Scarring or disfigurement
- Loss of mobility
- Difficulty sleeping
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- The effect of an injury on hobbies or activities
- The ongoing effects of a permanent injury
How Pain and Suffering Is Valued
There is no single formula that determines the amount of pain and suffering damages that are awarded. However, car accident lawyers often use the following general calculation methods when negotiating a settlement:
- The Multiplier Method. This takes your total economic damages, including medical bills and lost wages, and multiplies that number by a digit between 1.5 and 5, based on the severity of the injury. The following are examples of how this method works:
– Soft tissue injury has total damages of $5,600, which included $5,000 in medical bills and $600 in lost wages. Owing to the short recovery time and lack of permanent injury, a multiplier of 1.5 is applied, resulting in $8400 in pain and suffering damages, resulting in a total settlement of $14,000.
– Compound fracture with surgery has total damages of $50,000, including $40,000 in medical expenses and $10,000 in lost wages. Because of the invasive nature of the surgery and a six-month recovery time, a multiplier of 3 is applied, resulting in $150,000 in pain and suffering damages, with total damages equaling $200,000. - The Per Diem Method. With this method, a daily rate is assigned to your suffering. Oftentimes, the daily rate is equal to your regular daily wage. That daily rate is multiplied by the exact number of days you were in pain or undergoing medical treatment until you reach full medical recovery.
Are There Caps on Pain and Suffering in New Jersey?
Unlike many other states that place a strict cap on how much a person can be awarded for non-economic damages, New Jersey does not have a general cap on pain and suffering damages for personal injury cases. If a jury finds that your pain, suffering, trauma, and loss of quality of life are worth a significant amount of money, there is no state law that prevents them from awarding the full amount. A jury can award whatever amount it finds supported by the evidence rather than applying a statutory maximum.
Factors That Increase or Decrease the Award
There are a number of factors that can affect how much an injured person will be awarded in a personal injury claim, including the following:
- The severity of the injury. A serious injury is likely to result in greater pain, longer treatment, and more limitations than a minor injury. For example, an injury that requires surgery and creates permanent limitations will likely be awarded more than a broken bone that completely heals after several weeks.
- The length of recovery. If the injury causes months, or even years of pain and discomfort, this would warrant greater compensation than an injury with a shorter recovery time.
- Medical treatment. The type and extent of medical treatment can provide evidence about an injury. Medical records help demonstrate how the injury affected the person’s recovery. Treatment includes emergency care, surgery, physical therapy, prescription medication, follow-up appointments, rehabilitation, and counseling.
- Permanent disability or impairment. Some injuries can cause a permanent loss of bodily function, making it difficult, if not impossible, to work or perform most daily activities.
- Loss of enjoyment of life. If an injury prevents you from playing with your children, gardening, traveling, sports, or other activities you enjoy on a daily basis, this may impact the pain and suffering damages you recover.
Why There is No Simple “Multiplier” Formula
Although insurance adjusters informally use the multiplier method as a negotiating tool, New Jersey does not use a single multiplier formula to calculate pain and suffering because non-economic losses are inherently subjective, and the law leaves their quantification to a jury’s common sense. The following are the main reasons why the legal system rejects a rigid formula:
- Pain and suffering cannot be easily quantified. Pain, emotional distress, scarring, and loss of enjoyment of life do not have a specific price tag. Since human suffering cannot be reduced to a single mathematical equation, it should be determined by a jury after considering all the facts of the case.
- Medical bills do not always accurately reflect the severity of an injury. The multiplier usually relies on medical bills and multiplies them. However, the following are examples of how medical bills are notoriously inconsistent:
– If you suffered a disfiguring facial scar from a dog bite that required very little medical treatment, this could result in low medical bills, but severe psychological trauma. If a strict multiplier were used, you would likely be severely undercompensated.
– If you had an expensive diagnostic procedure performed for a soft-tissue injury that resolved completely in a month, a strict multiplier may overcompensate you based on inflated medical billing codes. - Preservation of the right of a jury trial. According to the New Jersey Constitution, plaintiffs have a legal right to a trial by jury. If the state imposed a rigid formula or a strict statutory multiplier, it would prevent juries from being able to evaluate the human loss and determine a fair compensation. Juries are explicitly instructed to use their life experience, common sense, and the evidence presented to determine a fair amount for pain and suffering.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I recover pain and suffering damages for a temporary injury?
Yes, although the amount you recover will depend on the level of pain, the length of recovery, the treatment required, and the effect the injury has had on your normal activities.
How does New Jersey’s auto insurance verbal threshold affect pain and suffering claims?
New Jersey automobile insurance policies may include a limitation-on-lawsuit option, which is also known as the verbal threshold. With this option, an injured person generally must have an injury that meets certain statutory requirements before recovering non-economic damages. The statute identifies categories including death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement or scarring, displaced fractures, loss of a fetus, and certain permanent injuries.
What is the no-limit-on-lawsuit option in New Jersey?
New Jersey provides a no-limit-on-lawsuit option. Under this option, the statute does not impose the same injury threshold for recovering non-economic losses in covered automobile claims.
Can pain and suffering damages include future problems?
Pain and suffering damages may include the ongoing effects of an injury. However, to determine the damages that will be awarded, you will need to provide evidence about future pain, limitations, or relevant treatment.
What evidence do I need to support a pain and suffering claim?
Because non-economic damages are more difficult to quantify, it is imperative that you collect as much evidence as possible to support your claim. Examples of effective evidence include medical records, diagnostic tests, treatment records, photographs of injuries, medication records, statements from witnesses, and documentation showing how the injury has impacted your normal activities.
Monmouth County Personal Injury Lawyers at Kitrick & Wells, LLC, Pursue Full Damages for Injured Clients
If you were seriously injured in an accident and you have questions about pain and suffering damages in New Jersey, do not hesitate to contact the Monmouth County personal injury lawyers at Kitrick & Wells, LLC. We will thoroughly review the details of your accident, the severity of your injury, and the impact it has had on your quality of life. Our dedicated legal team will pursue the maximum damages to which you are entitled, including pain and suffering. To schedule a free personal injury consultation, call us today at 732-920-8383 or contact us online. Located in Manasquan and Brick, New Jersey, we serve clients throughout the state.