In legal terms, pain and suffering are considered to be non-economic damages like physical and mental stress that are caused by an accident. It does not cover any sort of damages caused to your property. You can claim pain and suffering either through the insurance company of the responsible parties or by filing a case.
This can be done by the victim himself but, it is advised to hire a personal representative with prior experience, that is, a personal injury lawyer. To know whether your case needs to hire a lawyer or not, you can seek legal advice from a renowned car accident lawyer at Long Beach and get guidance on what you should be doing to claim the maximum benefits.
However, if you have decided to claim pain and suffering without an attorney, here are the points you should consider.
Collect Evidence
To claim for your damages, you have to present sufficient, valid evidence against the party you are filing the case. You have to prove that the actions of the responsible party (or parties, as the case may be) have directly resulted in the accident, and the injuries you have suffered are due to that accident only. As valid evidence, you may collect witness statements, statements of the other party, medical evidence, or pictures or videos of the accident scene.
Evaluate Your Damages
You need to determine the value of your non-economic damages to demand the compensation amount. Calculating the same is difficult, so you may consider one of the two methods – the per diem method or the multiplier method.
The first method entrusts some amount of money per day based on your case and multiplies the amount with the number of days you have been experiencing pain and suffering. The latter assigns you with a number from 1 to 5 based on your case and multiplying this multiplied by the number of your economic damages.
Craft Your Demand Letter
After collecting the evidence and estimating the compensation amount, you have to prepare a demand letter. In this letter, you will claim compensation for your pain and suffering from the appropriate insurance companies.
Speak To The Claims Adjuster
Seeking the demand letter, the insurance company may either grant you some compensation or deny your letter directly. Whatever the case may be, you are eligible to negotiate with the company accordingly. You should also prepare a complaint with the lawsuit to make the insurance company intimidated and, in turn, offer you a deserving compensation.
Do Your Due Diligence Before Heading To The Court
It is advised to settle your car accident case outside the court as heading toward the court requires you to carry out research, involves charges, court fees, and can potentially lead to lost income due to missing work for court appearances. Seeking the help of a car accident lawyer will take away a lot of the hassle.
However, research through previous cases similar to yours and learn how they got their settlements if you are advocating on your own. Know that if you lose, you will have to pay other additional charges as well. So, the more prepared you will be, the better your chances will be of winning the case.
Conclusion
When people think about claiming pain and suffering, they generally opt for unknown damages while saving the attorney fees. Yes, you can claim pain and suffering without a lawyer. But, having an experienced attorney by your side will get you through the situation easily, will take away much of the mental stress, and will maximize your claim amount.
Author’s Bio
Shrey Jain is the Co-Founder of Writofy & a Chartered Accountant who works with a team of creative content writers. He holds a forte in creating informative content on niches like crypto, business, fintech, digital marketing, and several others. In addition, his willingness to learn and share his knowledge can immensely help readers get valuable insights on varied topics.
