How Do I Calculate Pain and Suffering with the Multiplier Method?

Your pain and suffering may be an intangible consequence of the real injuries you incur after your personal injury accident. With this, you may be unsure what monetary value to assign to it. This may be even more difficult for you to compute if your health issues are ongoing, with no clear approximation for when you may reach a full recovery, if at all. Rest assured, your attorney may swoop in and introduce you to a formula known as the multiplier method. Without further ado, please follow along to find out how to calculate the total cost of your pain and suffering using the multiplier method and how a proficient Passaic County personal injury attorney at the Law Offices of August R. Soltis can confirm whether this is a fair assessment of your non-economic damages.

How do I calculate pain and suffering using the multiplier method?

Firstly, the multiplier method will assign your pain and suffering a factor between 1.5 and five. This factor may be on the lower side if you only incurred minor injuries, and on the higher end if they are more severe with long-term effects. Then, this factor may be multiplied by the total cost of your economic damages, such as your medical bills, lost wages, and property damage. In short, the formula may be seen as: Total Pain and Suffering = Factor x Total Economic Damages.

How is my pain and suffering assigned a specific factor for the multiplier method?

The specific factor you are assigned can prove critical to the amount of financial compensation you receive in your personal injury claim. For example, say that your total economic damages are proven to be 25,000. With a factor of two, your payout may be $50,000. But with a five, this may spike to $125,000. 

This alone proves the necessity of being given an accurate factor. Oftentimes, insurance companies will use a lower factor in an attempt to lowball a settlement offer. You must not agree to anything before consulting with your attorney. We will inform you whether you have enough evidence to justify a greater factor, which can be presented to the New Jersey civil court. 

Below are considerations to be made for a higher factor at or close to five:

• Certain severe injuries, like traumatic injuries or spinal cord damage causing paralysis.
• Maximum medical improvement that still requires a lifelong medical treatment plan.
• Emotional distress that manifests into mental health issues like anxiety or depression.
• Psychological trauma that is diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

If you want to ensure you are taking your legal claim in the right direction, it helps to have the guidance of a talented Passaic County personal injury attorney. Call the Law Offices of August R. Soltis and retain our legal services today.