fall river car accident attorneyIf you’ve been injured in a car accident due to someone else’s negligence, you have the right to pursue compensation from them for pain and suffering, medical bills, and lost wages. Once you have established liability, you will have to prove financial losses in order for your car accident claim to be successful.

There are two types of claims that you can pursue through the help of a car accident lawyer in Fall River, MA, or on your own and they include:

  1. Economic losses such as medical bills lost wages or damage to property
  2. Non-economic losses such as pain and suffering

While you can pursue compensation for economic losses on your own, it can be quite a challenge to pursue non-economic damages such as pain and suffering. This is mainly because it is easier to calculate financial losses than it is to calculate pain and suffering.

A Fall River auto accident lawyer can do the math for you but it’s also necessary that you have a general understanding of how pain and suffering are calculated.

How are Damages Calculated in Pain and Suffering?

First of all, personal injury settlement calculators are a scam. Your insurer knows better because they will not use it and secondly, a good Fall River car accident lawyer won’t use it either. Settlement calculators won’t take into account various details about your case and you might end up with a value that is significantly lower than what you deserve. For instance, the calculator won’t take into account your career and how the accident impacted your quality of life. If you worked as a model and an accident left you with visible scars on your face, not only will your source of income be affected but your self-esteem will also be affected and a settlement calculator will not consider this fact.

If you meet an attorney and they use a settlement calculator, you might be the victim of an ambulance chaser. Such attorneys use settlement calculators as a marketing strategy in order to score more business. However, car accident victims who work with such kinds of attorneys often get misled as to the value of their case.

Settlement Calculators Do Not Consider Causation

Causation is the relationship between an action and the result. In a car accident case, you must establish causation; meaning it’s not enough to prove negligence. You must show that the defendant’s negligence caused your injuries.

Insurance companies may argue that your injuries were not a result of a car accident especially if you had pre-existing injuries.

A car accident settlement calculator will not take into account a pre-existing injury and it may significantly reduce the value of your settlement.

What Qualifies as Pain and Suffering in a Car Accident Case?

Pain and suffering are defined as emotional distress and physical discomfort that are compensable as non-economic damages. It is also defined as emotional trauma, inconvenience, anguish, discomfort, and pain that accompanies an injury.

Non-economic damages are paid for by a party at fault and the amount of money available for compensation is subjective.

How to Prove Pain and Suffering

You should always document your pain and suffering if you plan to file an injury claim. Below are some of the ways that you can increase your chances of getting compensated:

  • An expert witness can testify on your behalf. An expert witness is anyone who has education, knowledge, skills, or is experienced in a particular field. In your car accident case, a psychologist can explain your emotional or psychological issues to the judge or jury. Click here to find out more about how an expert witness can help your case.
  • Documentation of medical prescriptions meant for managing physical pain and mental issues
  • Your own testimony explaining how the accident affected your quality of life. It can be an oral or a written statement. It’s also very useful to keep a journal detailing how you were fairing on a day-to-day basis.
  • Testimony from your friends or family explaining your pain and suffering.

We Can Calculate the Real Value of Your Case

It’s always recommended that you hire a car accident attorney before trying to file a car accident claim on your own. At Kevin P Landry Law Offices, we have more than twenty years of experience handling car accident claims and we are less likely to make mistakes that will significantly reduce the value of your claim. Schedule a free consultation with us today and find out the real value of your case. Contact us at 508-676-0001 or visit us at 422 North Main Street Fall River, MA 02720.