How To Discuss Chronic Pain In Car Accident Claims
It is hard enough to sustain a short-term injury after a Long Beach car accident and even worse to have ongoing chronic pain in the weeks and months that follow.
Chronic pain following a car accident can occur in all parts of the body, however, it is more common in certain places. Often, victims find themselves with long-term neck, shoulder, and back pain that is a result of the impact of the crash itself. Another body part in which chronic pain is common is the limbs, as they are easily broken during an accident. If a limb break does not heal correctly, this can cause long-term pain for the victim.
Thankfully, if you are injured in a car accident and suffer from chronic pain as a result, you may be able to claim compensation for “pain and suffering”. This will be calculated by your insurance company. While there is no concrete method that your insurance provider will use to determine the amount of compensation you will be awarded, there are some strategies that they may employ.
How is Compensation Decided?
The first method is the Per Diem Method. This method assigns a dollar figure to each day that it takes the victim to fully recover from their injuries. Therefore, if a per diem figure of $50 was selected, and the time it took the patient to fully recover was 100 days, the compensation would amount to $5000.
The second method is the Multiplier Method. The way that this is carried out is by firstly making a base figure of your total financial damages (such as wages, bills, and extra costs). Next, the insurance company will choose a multiplier to calculate the level of pain and suffering. This means that if a victim of a car crash ends up with $20,000 in financial damages, and their insurance company decides that their multiplier for pain and suffering was a “3”, then the compensation would total $60,000.
Sometimes, the pain might not develop until well after the accident. The general rule is that you have two years from the day of the accident to make a claim that will likely result in compensation. Because chronic pain may not start until well after the date of the accident, you must seek out a medical professional immediately after an accident to ensure you are checked out properly for any injuries, even ones that may not cause pain until a later date.
How Can It Affect You?
Chronic pain can affect all aspects of your life. The cost of treating and managing the pain can have a severe financial impact on you. This financial burden can be worsened if the pain prevents you from doing your job, causing you to experience income loss.
The pain can also place physical limitations on your body that stop you from doing the activities you love, which can obviously have a major impact on your mental health.
The effect of chronic pain can be drastic, and it is important that you receive the compensation that you deserve in order to make up for this. Unfortunately, insurance companies will often try to undercut what they believe you deserve for “pain and suffering”, which can lead to an unfair amount of compensation.
Call a Long Beach Car Accident Attorney Today
Enlisting the help of a Long Beach car accident lawyer will help you to receive the fair amount of compensation that you deserve.
The attorneys at the Law Firm of Joseph H. Low IV will treat your case with compassion, and apply their expert knowledge to fight for you. If you are suffering from chronic pain as a result of a car accident, call us today at (562) 901-0840 to learn how we can help.