If you’re injured in an accident that isn’t your fault, you have the right to claim financial compensation to cover the costs of things like medical bills and lost earnings.
But you may also be able to claim compensation for the pain and suffering you experience as a result of your injuries.
Pain and suffering, in legal terms, falls under the category of non-economic damages. That means there’s no measurable monetary amount that can be applied to your pain and suffering.
For example, when you claim damages for the medical costs of treating a broken arm, the expenses will be a set billable amount. But there’s no fixed dollar amount that can be applied to the pain and suffering you experience as a result of the broken arm.
Therefore, the non-economic damages you may be eligible for must be decided in a court of law, and the amount you can receive can vary greatly, depending on the extent of your pain and suffering.
And pain and suffering doesn’t just refer to the amount of pain you’re in after your accident. The compensation you could be awarded is also dependent on how much the injury has impacted your quality of life.
Now you know what compensation is for pain and suffering in legal terms, let’s take a look at how you can get the compensation that you deserve.
Hire an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney
The first thing you need to do is consult an experienced law firm, such as the Personal Injury Attorneys at Munley Law.
A lawyer will be able to examine your case and tell you what your legal options are and how you can proceed to claim compensation for pain and suffering, as well as compensation for other things, like medical expenses and lost current and future earnings.
Your lawyer will also advise you on what documentation you could need to present the case in court to help you receive the maximum compensation. The documents you gather to present in court could make a huge difference in the damages that are awarded to you.
Keep a Journal
While it’s more difficult to prove your pain and suffering than it is to prove things like the extent of your physical injuries, when you follow your attorney’s advice and present the court with as much documentation as possible, you have a much better chance of attaining the best compensatory outcome.
One way of documenting the pain and suffering you experience after an accident is to keep a journal.
Use it to describe how your injuries and mental well-being affect each day of your life and be as specific as possible.
Your journal can then be used in court to help prove the extent of your pain and suffering.
Assign Scores to Your Daily Pain
You should also assign a score to evaluate how much pain you’re in each day.
You can do that in your journal or keep a separate document.
For example, you could record that your pain level was nine out of ten when you woke up one morning but that it reduced to seven out of ten after taking medication.
Present Therapy Records
If you’re attending therapy sessions after your accident, your therapist will keep a log of your progress.
Those records, which will highlight both your pain and mental well-being, can be very helpful documents to present in court to assist you in maximizing the compensation you’re awarded.
Ask for Affidavits from Your Family and Friends
Lastly, affidavits from your family and friends will enable you to stand a better chance of receiving the full compensation you’re entitled to.
So, ask your friends and family to keep track of how you’re doing after your accident. That can be very valuable for establishing how much you can receive in non-economic damages.
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