How Much Can You Receive For Pain And Suffering From An Auto Accident in Texas?
If you have been in an auto accident in the state of Texas, then you may be experiencing pain and suffering as a result. The tough part about trying to receive compensation for pain and suffering is that it is one of, if not the hardest things to prove in terms of auto accidents.
Understanding Pain and Suffering
Pain and suffering is a kind of damage that you can file a claim for and receive compensation to help with your recovery. Typically, pain and suffering is defined as one or more of the following:
- Anxiety
- Temporary or permanent disability
- Disfigurement
- Loss of consortium (damages suffered by the spouse or immediate family member as the result of a car accident that causes a wrongful death)
- Loss of services (the loss suffered when a family member dies and can no longer contribute to the family)
As you can see, it is difficult to assign a dollar amount to this kind of suffering. How do you put a price on anxiety, for instance? How much could you ask to recover for that sort of thing?
Luckily, our lawyers have years of experience handling claims just like yours. We’ve seen what courts will award on average, and what insurance companies will pay out. This helps us determine the award you are most likely to receive in your own case.
The Multiplier Method
In the state of Texas, courts use something known as “the multiplier” to calculate how much damages to award on a claim of pain and suffering. Simply, the court multiples your actual damages (medical treatment and repairs to or the replacement of your car) by a particular number to reach a fair result. The number is from one to five, with one being the least amount of damages incurred and five being the most.
Many personal injury lawyers multiply the actual damages by three. So, if you had to pay out $7,000 in out-of-pocket medical costs and repairs, when you multiply that number by three, you get $21,000. Therefore, your demand for damages should total $21,000 to cover your actual damages as well as your pain and suffering.
Certain situations will actually increase the multiplier. For instance, if you are involved in an accident with a drunk driver, the lawyer may increase the multiplier to four, rather than three. This is a way to incorporate punitive damages, which are damages ordered solely to teach the offender a lesson and prevent him from engaging in similar behavior in the future.
The Daily Rate Method
Rather than “the multiplier,” some lawyers prefer to use the daily rate method to calculate pain and suffering. Using this method, the lawyer will determine a dollar amount for every day that you have suffered as a result of the accident, and then will demand that money back. (Some lawyers calculate it weekly for the sake of brevity.)
To come up with a starting number, the lawyer may calculate how much money you make for a typical day of work. He will then add up the number of days you have been out of work, i.e. the amount of money you could have made, had the accident not stolen your ability to work.
This is smart because it gives you a reason for the number you choose. If you otherwise walked into court and said your pain and suffering was costing you $300 a day, the court would think you chose an arbitrary number and were blowing your claim out of proportion.
You may not know when filing a claim on your own whether you should opt for the multiplier method or the daily rate method. This is where a good car accident lawyer comes in. A lawyer will be able to judge from the details in your case which method is better for you in the end.
Looking To Recover Money After A Car Accident For Pain And Suffering? We Can Help!
Pain and suffering can be even worse after an accident than actual damages. Bruises can heal, and cars can be fixed, but it’s not so easy to travel down that particular road again without worrying about being hit. Or, if you are the family member of a loved one who was the victim of a wrongful death, nothing is more agonizing than knowing your loved one would still be here, if not for the negligent actions of the other driver.
This is the kind of situation where it would be wise to hire a Dallas car accident lawyer to help you. Pain and suffering is one of the hardest things to prove, yet it’s one of the hardest things to go through. If you would like to be connected to one of the qualified lawyers on our team, fill out our contact form, or give us a call at 469-998-4069, and we’ll help you get started. We care about your case, and we want to help relieve your struggle, so call us today!
