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Our team of Fort Myers car accident lawyers at Viles & Beckman explain how we help you calculate your pain and suffering damages after a car accident. Read on to learn more about the value of your pain and suffering damages.
What Factors Determine Your Pain and Suffering Damage Amounts?
There are several things that your pain and suffering damages amount depends on. When determining appropriate values for pain and suffering damages resulting from car accident injuries, the court examines several factors in detail:
Type and Severity of Injuries
More serious injuries like fractures, herniated discs, traumatic brain injuries, and those necessitating surgery will merit higher awards. These injuries typically involve lengthy hospitalization, intensive medical procedures, and long rehabilitation. Conversely, lesser sprains and contusions receive lower values since recovery is often quicker.
Length of Injury Recovery
Extended recovery periods involving multiple physical therapy sessions, injections, interventions, and follow-up doctor visits over many months or years increase the damage amount. Lingering long-term issues such as chronic pain, disabilities, or life-long limitations also elevate amounts to reflect long-lasting effects.
Age and Health
Younger people or those previously active in work, school, or their normal routine prior to the accident tend to obtain greater damages. This means that your overall lifetime is affected by the injuries. Conversely, pre-existing health problems may reduce amounts to account for unrelated factors.
Impact on Quality of Life
Extensive evaluation examines how basic tasks, relationships, careers, activities, sleep routine, and enjoyment of life are altered as a result of the accident. This comprehensive assessment accounts for all meaningful lifestyle aspects diminished by the injuries.
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What Are the Steps to Proving Pain and Suffering After a Florida Car Accident?
There are several steps to take to prove pain and suffering damages. But don’t worry; our team of car accident attorneys in Fort Myers will take care of proving your eligibility while you heal from your injuries. Here are the steps we’ll take:
Establish Liability
Having an accident reconstruction expert thoroughly analyze the crash scene details, vehicles, roadway evidence, witness statements, and traffic laws to pinpoint the liable party’s specific negligent actions that directly caused the collision is a huge step. This comprehensive investigation considers all possible contributing factors and adheres to professional standards to credibly show a breach of the responsible party’s duty of care.
The expert will then document their analysis and conclusions in an accurate report. This establishes the liable party in a clear manner for the court or negotiations.
Compile Medical Records
Your car accident attorney will obtain all records from emergency responders, hospitals, doctors, physical therapists, specialists, diagnostic facilities, and pharmacies. We’ll also assemble records chronologically with notes on treatment, test results, work restrictions, medications, and provider opinions.
Then, we’ll organize the medical file with a detailed index and highlight the treatment timeline, injuries identified, diagnostic procedures, prescribed medications, and provider observations on the impact of the impairment. This presentation simplifies the evidence for evaluators.
Seek Medical Evaluations
Once you are able to function normally, you should schedule examinations by medical experts within the appropriate specialties to document injuries, review records, conduct physical exams, order additional tests, and provide written opinions on causation and prognosis with impairment ratings.
Have specialists evaluate your status independent of the trial to establish unbiased and well-supported conclusions regarding injuries, response to care, residual effects, limitations, and long-term outlook as credible expert evidence.
Outline Life Impacts
We can prepare a detailed summary or have you provide testimony depicting limitations to normal daily activities, relationship and social changes, career and income effects, recreational restrictions, and long-term disability consequences through depositions or trial testimony.
Documenting changes through first-hand accounts brings the personal suffering to light in a compelling manner for factfinders.
File Lawsuit and Negotiate
With a thorough file of evidence, our team can help you file a lawsuit to obtain a fair award for intangible suffering not adequately covered by economic damages alone under the specific facts of the case. A seasoned injury attorney on our team can strengthen negotiations or effectively present the case before a jury.
What Other Damages Can You Recover After a Florida Car Accident?
In addition to pain and suffering damages, you can still recover compensation for economic and other non-economic damages. Our car accident lawyer in Fort Myers at Viles & Beckman can help you recover losses such as:
- Medical expenses: Past and future costs for doctors, hospitals, medications, surgeries, physical therapy, and medical equipment.
- Lost wages: Past lost income from being unable to work due to injuries plus future lost earning capacity.
- Property damage: The cost to repair or replace a vehicle from the accident.
- Loss of consortium: For a spouse or family member to be compensated for loss of companionship due to the injured person’s condition.
- Permanent injury: Compensation for lifelong disabilities, disfigurement, or impairment resulting from the crash.
- Emotional distress: Damages for long-term impacts on mental health like PTSD, depression, or anxiety.
- Rehabilitation costs: Expenses associated with treatments, life care plans, and other services to regain mobility and function.
- Wrongful death: These damages are available where the accident directly caused a fatality for losses to survivors.
Click To ContactLearn More About How Pain and Suffering Is Calculated in Florida
At Viles & Beckman, our car accident attorneys in Fort Myers are ready to help you recover the pain and suffering damages you qualify for. We’ll review your case and tell you what amount you’re eligible for.
To learn more about pain and suffering damages after a Florida car accident, contact us.
Call or text (239) 334-3933 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
