What is “Pain and Suffering” in a personal injury claim?

 “Pain and Suffering” is the personal injury damage that compensates you for the physical pain and emotional distress that your injuries cause.  This is additional money, above and beyond, your medical expenses and lost wages.  Our injury attorneys know that painful injuries can disrupt every aspect of your life. Unfortunately, adjusters routinely ignore pain and suffering unless you have an attorney.  Why?  Because adjusters always want to save the insurance company money at your expense. The good news is that you don’t have to accept the adjuster’s unfair offer.  Instead, you can hire attorney Richard Griffinto make sure that you get fully paid for your personal injury claim.  We accomplish this by presenting the specific examples of how your life was negatively impacted during negotiations.  If the final offer is not fair, then we litigate.  This takes it out of the hands of the adjuster and let’s a jury decide how much your case is worth.

Are you better off hiring a personal injury attorney or handling it yourself?

If you have serious injuries, then you are always better off hiring a personal injury attorney.  If you don’t, then you don’t know the value of your case and don’t have the threat of litigation.  This puts you at the mercy of the adjuster.  It is like playing chess against a master chest player when you aren’t even sure of the rules of the game.  However, calling us at 800-624-4878 can change everything. Why?  Because the Griffin Law Firm has a track record of getting great settlements for our clients.  This is accomplished by making sure the personal injury settlement pays for all of the medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and when applicable punitive damage (primarily for DUI or hit and run defendants).

How much more do you usually get by having an attorney?

One study found that injured people recover about 3.5 times more when they hire a personal injury attorney rather than handle it themselves.  This means that if you could have settled your case for $10,000 without an attorney, an attorney could have gotten you $35,000 or more. The Griffin Law Firm attorneys have a track record of turning low offers into huge settlements or verdicts. We have summarized some of these real cases below:

Our great settlements come in part from great pain and suffering recoveries:

Attorney Richard Griffin has a track record of negotiating great settlements that include big money for pain and suffering.  For example, we have negotiated personal injury settlements that included $46,000, $150,000, $620,000, and even $800,000 just for pain and suffering alone.  In each of these cases, we have provided the pain and suffering recovery, as well as, the total lump sum settlement.

What strategies do insurance companies use to justify their low offers?

  • Medical Bill Reduction: Adjusters will argue the medical bills are too high or unrelated.  You should expect the adjuster to tell you, “Your medical bills are more than the reasonable and customary charges.”   Our job is to fight for the medical bills to be paid in full.
  • Lost Wage Rejection: Insurance companies also often reject your lost wage claim or greatly reduce it.  They argue that your documentation is inadequate or that you really should have worked through the pain.  Again, we are here to make sure all of your lost wages are paid.
  • Pain and Suffering Exclusion: However, the damage that the adjusters save the most is when they simply focus on your medical bills and ignore your pain and suffering all together.  This is the area that our personal injury attorneys can get you paid the most.

How does the Griffin Law Firm get such great settlements for our clients?

We use the following strategies to greatly increase the settlement amounts for your clients:

  • Medical Treatment: We help you get the medical treatment you need even if you don’t have health insurance. This lets you make a better recovery from your injuries, as well as, gives us the injury documentation needed to get the best possible settlement.  Many-times we are even able to recover for the projected cost of the future treatment our clients will need.
  • Lost Wages: Our personal injury attorneys gather the lost wage documentation you need so the adjuster can’t just reject your lost wage claim.  This documentation includes doctor excuses and wage and salary verifications.  Sometimes our clients even recover for future lost income if their injuries will limit their ability to do the work they are trained to do.
  • Pain and Suffering: The Griffin Law Firm takes the time to look at the details of every case.  This helps us paint the picture to the adjuster, defense attorney, or juror of just how devastating your injuries were to your life. Afterall, emotional distress often results in depression, anxiety, and fear since your life has been turned upside down due to your debilitating injuries.  If the adjuster does not agree to a fair settlement, then they know we will take them to court and get more money from a jury.  We are not at the mercy of the adjuster’s “final offer”.
  • Skilled Negotiation: After handling thousands of personal injury claims, we know what the true value of your case is.  We also have the resources to maximize your claim such as the latest jury verdict research to negotiate the higher settlements.
  • Successful Litigation: Litigation is only the best option if the adjuster is negotiating in bad faith. However, our firm will use litigation to held the insurance company’s feet to the fire whenever needed.  In this way, the jury decides what the case is worth instead of being stuck with the adjuster’s unfair offer.

Call the Griffin Law Firm today at 800-624-4878for a free consultation to find out how much pain and suffering you may be entitled to receive.  You need to level the playing field with the adjuster to make sure your settlement is fair.

What are some of the factors that increase how much money pain and suffering is worth?

  • Permanent Injuries:Pain and suffering is always higher when the injuries are permanent and severe. These injuries often include fractures, disc herniations, spinal injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and joint injuries.
  • Extensive Treatment: When clients requires extensive treatment, the pain and suffering recovery is higher. These cases often require injection therapy, and/or surgery rather than just conservative care (physical therapy or chiropractic).
  • Mental Injury / Traumatic Brain Injuries: Cases often have higher values when there are serious physical injuries plus mental distress. This can include the negative impact your pain is having in your relationships as well.  Head injuries that involve memory loss, loss of concentration, headaches, mood changes, personality changes, and loss of cognitive abilities often result in very large settlements.
  • Scarring and Disfigurement: Scarring and disfigurement also increase the pain and suffering recovery.  This is because scars or disfigurement are constant reminders of your horrific collision.  This often causes people to be self-conscious about their appearance.
  • Permanent Restrictions: When there are permanent limitations on your life at work, home, and play, pain and suffering recoveries are higher.  Doctors can even assign a permanent impairment rating to assign a number to these limitations.

How do you know what your case is worth?

This is the most common question we get from callers who have a personal injury or workers’ compensation claim. There is no set formula that determines the value of your personal injury claim.  Instead, the value is determined either by an agreed upon settlement or through litigation.  Knowing the settlement value gives you a goal.  Hiring our top-rated personal injury law firm will help you get that great settlement you need and deserve.

  • Free Settlement Evaluation Phone Call: You can call us at 800-624-4878to find out what your case is worth.
  • Free Settlement Calculator: You can also use the Settlement Calculator tool below to request your free Settlement Calculator report.  In this way, you can know what the projected value of you case is.

Other Related Personal Injury Topics:

What is a personal injury claim?

Personal injury claims arise when someone is injured due to the negligence of someone else.  The most common types of accidents include:

  • Auto accidents
  • Truck accidents
  • Motorcycle accidents
  • Bicycle accident
  • Pedestrian accident
  • Slip and fall accident
  • Dog bite attack

What types of damages can you recover for in a personal injury settlement?

  • Medical Expenses: You can recover for the cost of your medical treatment.
  • Lost Wages: Claimants can also be compensated for any lost wages your injuries cause.
  • Pain and Suffering: This allows you to receive money for the physical pain, emotional distress, anxiety, fear, depression, and the overall negative impact your injuries caused.
  • Punitive Damages: These are additional damages allowed to deter misconduct such as DUI and hit and run. This damage is only allowed when the defendants conduct shows a reckless disregard for human life.

For answers to your personal injury questions, call the Griffin Law Firm at 800-624-4878.