After an accident, there’s something to be considered beyond the mounting medical bills and lost wages. You’re likely also facing a great deal of physical and emotional pain, and Texas law recognizes that you should be compensated for this. Unlike with medical expenses, however, figuring out how much you should be compensated isn’t a very straightforward calculation. Talk to a Board-Certified personal injury attorney in Houston, TX for specifics in your case, and read on to get a general idea of how this is done in Texas.
From a Houston, TX Personal Injury Attorney: Calculating Pain and Suffering
Texas courts rely on a few approaches when determining these damages, but the most common method (and the one encouraged by the courts) is the “multiplier” approach. Here, you take your documented economic damages (things like medical costs, lost income, etc) and multiply them by a number between one and five, reflecting the severity and duration of your pain and suffering.
So, for example, let’s say that a car accident caused you a few minor fractures which were not complicated and which healed as expected. Here, your multiplier might be just one or two, so if your economic damages were $12,000, your “pain and suffering” damages would be another $12,000 to $24,000. Now let’s say that car accident smashed your legs up in a way that means, while they still healed, it took a lot longer and involved a lot of pain. Now the appropriate multiplier might be 3-4, meaning your non-economic damages would be $36,000 to $48,000.
Finally, what if that car accident broke your legs so severely that, while you eventually walk again, you’re never quite the same and even have to get a completely different job? Now, the multiplier would typically be 5, and you would get five times the amount of your economic damages in pain and suffering damages. As you can imagine, insurance companies will try to keep this multiplier low, which is why having a skilled legal advocate on your side is so important.
Why Do I Need a “Calculation Method?”
Pain and suffering covers the less tangible impacts of an injury. This includes the obvious physical pain but also emotional distress like anxiety or depression, loss of enjoyment of life, and the long-term consequences of disabilities or disfigurements. It’s about acknowledging the whole-person impact beyond just the immediate financial loss.
However, pain and suffering assessments are highly subjective. Even two people who have basically the same injuries may not experience them or recover from them in the same way. The court will consider the nature of your injuries, the intensity of your pain, whether your suffering is ongoing, and how it affects your daily life and relationships.
Contact Us
At the Law Office of Shane R. Kadlec, we understand that no amount of money fully compensates you for the pain and trauma caused by an accident. However, we will fight to ensure you receive the maximum amount the law allows. Contact us now at the Law Office of Shane R. Kadlec from Houston or anywhere in Harris County for a free consultation.
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