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| Car accident attorney New Jersey |
There are two types of damages that you can claim when
pursuing a car accident claim: special damages and general damages. Special
damages are out of pocket expenses that must be proven with specificity and can
be determined by adding your quantifiable financial losses. General damages are
damages that naturally follow the liable party’s wrongful action and are not
quantifiable.
One of the most common types of general damages is pain and
suffering. Both insurance companies and personal injury attorneys can use
various methods to calculate the value of pain and suffering.
The Multiplier Method
The multiplier method is a common approach used to evaluate
pain and suffering damages. This method calculates pain and suffering damages
by multiplying the actual damages (medical bills and loss of wages) by a
certain number. The multiplier number commonly used is 3. However, insurance
adjusters have become more reluctant to automatically concede to a multiplier
of 3.
The Daily Rate Method
The daily rate is another a method used to calculate pain
and suffering. This method assigns an amount of money to each day (or week)
that the victim suffers from the accident-related injury. If your attorney
chooses this method, he or she must be ready to articulate a valid reason for
why he chose this amount of money per day.
Combination Method
The most efficient and systematic method of calculating pain
and suffering is to use a combination of the multiplier and the daily rate
method to get an approximate value. You will then need to adjust your
expectations based on several important factors, including the extent of your
injuries, how long you missed work, and whether the jury
will respond to you as a witness.
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