The Major Determining Factors in Auto Accident Pain and Suffering
Getting your auto accident settlement finalized can be a tricky process. One of the trickiest parts of it is agreeing on general damages such as pain and suffering. This is because while special damages, such as hospital bills and car mechanic’s fees have receipts to back them up, special damages are more subjective and can differ widely from case to case. The whole process can be very complicated, but here are a few of the biggest determining factors in pain and suffering damages.
The first thing that determines auto accident pain and suffering amounts is the actual amount of damage that the accident caused on your life. For most cases, this is linked to your hospital bills, but this isn’t a hard and fast rule. There are cases where large hospital bills, for example if you had a lot of tests done that came back negative, don’t really impact your quality of life and there are cases where people, especially young children or the elderly, had small hospital bills but their quality of life was incredibly degraded as a result of the accident. Stitches on a young girl’s face are a good example of the latter.
Another big determining factor of the type of pain and suffering you can expect is the state that you live in. Different states have different laws regulating the amount of pain and suffering your can seek, so in some states the laws can allow you to sue for more damages than in others.
Just as laws can have an effect, the juries in your area can affect the type of money that you receive as well. Some juries in certain areas will be stricter on victims and allow them less money than in other areas. While this may not be true in every case, it will still be taken into account in your settlement.
Determining pain and suffering can be a complicated and involved process. Hopefully this article has helped you to understand some of the underlying causes of it.
