After suffering a truck accident injury, you must prove who was at fault before collecting damages. Your damages may include non-economic losses, including pain and suffering. To collect financial compensation, you must show who is responsible for the accident and identify your pain and suffering.
Pain and Suffering Is a Subjective Measurement
Pain and suffering is subjective, and insurance company adjusters will do everything possible to mitigate the amount of your settlement, including pain and suffering. When you meet with your truck accident lawyer, provide them with accurate information to protect yourself against insurance companies.
What Is Pain and Suffering?
Regardless of the severity, everyone who suffers an injury suffers some pain.
Victims will suffer physical pain from the following injuries:
- Broken bones in an accident
- Internal bleeding or injuries sustained in an injury
- General trauma leading to aches and pains
Another category of injuries leads to long-term suffering.
These injuries include:
- Temporary or permanent disability
- Mental health issues following a traumatic event
- Embarrassment many victims feel after an accident
- Facing a shorter lifespan
- Diminished cognitive function
- Loss of enjoyment of life and loss of companionship
Accident victims may deal with any of these long-term injuries following an accident. Because truck accident victims often have more severe injuries, their compensation for pain and suffering is significant.
You have the right to collect compensation for your pain and suffering. Ensure your settlement demand includes this compensation by working closely with your lawyer early in the claims process. Your lawyer can better understand how to calculate your pain and suffering if you discuss your long-term recovery and explain how the accident affected your life.
Documenting Pain and Suffering
While it is simple to document medical bills, vehicle damage, and lost wages during recovery, documenting pain and suffering is more challenging. Many factors affect pain and suffering, including the severity of an injury, your family situation before the accident, your age, and your physical and mental health before an injury.
When calculating the amount of your pain and suffering for a settlement offer, a personal injury lawyer will ask you numerous questions.
After an accident, your lawyer may suggest you:
- Document your day-to-day progress, including monitoring pain levels
- Obtain treatment for physical and mental health issues
- Provide the names of your closest friends and family members
Your lawyer may also ask you questions to determine your routine before the truck accident and your new routine following the accident.
Only when a lawyer has a comprehensive account of your life before and after the accident can they understand the necessary elements to calculate your pain and suffering.
Insurers and Pain and Suffering
As with any claim, insurance companies are skeptical of settlement offers that include compensation for pain and suffering following a truck accident.
The insurance company will look at several factors to determine the appropriate amount, including:
- Degree of injury – the more serious the injury, the longer the pain will last. For example, someone with a broken leg will likely suffer pain for several weeks to a few months following an accident. However, someone suffering a traumatic brain injury, injuries requiring surgery, or a severe back injury will often take much longer to heal.
- Quality of life – after an injury, a person’s quality of life can change. Their job circumstances could change because of their injuries, they may suffer disfiguring scarring, or their injuries may affect their life in another way.
- After-accident occurrences – Other life changes following an accident include increased use of painkillers, changes in relationships, and job loss.
While an insurance company may be hesitant to award high compensation for pain and suffering following a truck accident, you have a right to seek those damages. When you work with a lawyer to obtain payment for your injuries, they will help you determine a fair amount for your pain and suffering.
Working With an Experienced Semi-Truck Lawyer
Following a semi-truck injury, you have a right to be made financially whole for the losses you suffered. While insurance company adjusters will fight hard to prevent you from collecting for pain and suffering, a lawyer can help you recover this essential compensation.
Truck accidents are traumatic. Compensation for economic loss alone does not always restore victims and their families for the trauma they suffered. Lawyers cannot always restore victims to their pre-accident states, but additional damages for pain and suffering can help them find financial stability.
Make sure you have someone advocating for you after suffering an injury from a truck accident. Contact a skilled truck accident attorney to get the compensation and support you deserve.
