Can I Get Compensation For Pain and Suffering After Low Impact Car Accident

Have you or someone you know been involved in a low-impact car accident? The legal professionals at Frankl Kominsky Injury Lawyers can help you seek compensation by filing a “Pain and Suffering” settlement.

Pain and Suffering settlements are tricky to file for low-impact car accidents since it involves calculating the severity of the physical and emotional damages as a result of the accident. Having a good legal professional to help you along the way of filing your claim and collecting your evidence can make all the difference for your case.

We’ll review what exactly seeking compensation for a Pain and Suffering settlement is, how to go about it, and how the team at Frankl Kominsky Injury Lawyers can help you.

What Is Pain And Suffering From a Legal Standpoint?

Pain and suffering refers to the physical and mental damages a person may have acquired after a car crash. It is also a legal term that refers to the extra payment a person receives to cover their medical costs. The costs for Pain and Suffering settlements will vary between cases.

When the case goes to court, it is up to the jury how much each person in the lawsuit will receive for their settlement. For example, two people involved in a car accident can receive different amounts once the jury considers the different factors.

These factors can include:

Age
Overall health before the accident
Severity of sustained injuries

Possible Pain And Suffering Settlements

Pain and suffering settlements are divided into two categories: economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages deal with damages that can be totaled, such as medical bills and car repairs. In contrast, non-economic damages refer to the severity of the impact the accident had on the person’s quality of life.

Economic damages can be broken down into two categories as well: physical and mental wages. If a person in a car accident has a tremendous amount of medical bills to pay or car repairs to make, these can all qualify as economic damages.

Non-economic damages are harder to classify, but they go hand-in-hand with economic damages. These types of damages can include impairments or disabilities caused by the wreck, loss/death of a family member, other emotional changes such as trauma, PTSD, or depression and anxiety.

Who Can File For Pain And Suffering?

The state of Florida operates under a no-fault system with its driving laws. This means that no matter whose fault the crash was, both drivers have to file claims with their own car insurance companies to cover the costs of the damages. If the insurance claims are not enough to cover the costs of the damages, people can then sue the at-fault driver to seek more compensation.

Let’s look at some of Florida’s car accident statute of limitation laws more closely. A person has two years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit and have their case registered in the Florida system. While that is somewhat of a lengthy time frame, it’s best to file as soon as you can to get started and preserve your claim.

Since Florida is a no-fault state, both parties in a car accident can file for pain and suffering, but the distribution of wages will not be equal. The take-home settlement for each party will depend on how responsible the jury finds you and the other party at fault.

By the time the jury settles on a sum, you may be entitled to damages and pain and suffering. They will then determine how responsible for the crash they think you are. That percentage of responsibility the jury decides on will be reduced from the determined sum.

As an example:

The jury awards you $80,000 for damages and pain and suffering.
The jury finds you 20% responsible for the wreck due to Florida’s modified comparative fault.
That 20% is reduced from the $80,000, meaning you walk away with $64,000.

How To Calculate Pain And Suffering

A great attorney can help you know what to expect from your pain and suffering settlement when it is time to calculate. Although the state of Florida does not have a cap on what a person can take home in a pain and suffering lawsuit, your trusted lawyer can give you an estimate on what you may likely walk away with.

To calculate pain and suffering, a standard method is typically followed. The total of a person’s economic damages is multiplied by a number between 1 and 5 based on the severity of a sustained injury or the non-economic damages. This method is called the “multiplier method.”

Steps To File For A Claim For Pain And Suffering

If you or a loved one sustained any injuries during a car accident within the last 2 years, we could help you seek compensation by filing a pain and suffering claim.

To get started, you need to reach out and find a Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer with a proven track record of successful lawsuits. Since pain and suffering settlements can be tricky to measure and build, you should hire a team of experts who implement the best legal practices in all they do.

Once you have found the legal professional you would like to work with, it’s time to build your case. Most lawyers prefer to meet face-to-face or via telephone conference to collect as much information as possible before discussing how they can help you.

Questions Your Lawyer May Ask

Developing a case for pain and suffering means your legal professional has the ins and outs of the accident and damages you experienced. Here are some questions your lawyer may ask you when building your pain and suffering case:

How old were you when the accident happened?
How did the accident occur?
Were you speeding?
What damages/repairs had to be made to your car?
Were there any medical bills? If so, how much?
Did you sustain any life-altering injuries?

Your lawyer may ask you questions similar to these and more to build your case around your responses or to help you figure out the likely outcome of your case.

Hire A Great Legal Advisor

The very first step to seeking a Pain and Suffering settlement is to have an expert lawyer on your side from day one. Since this is a trickier lawsuit to file in the state of Florida, you should look for the best Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer, such as the professionals at Frankl Kominsky Injury Lawyers (by appointment). We’re a team of legal professionals with 40 years in the business.

Car accidents of all calibers can be traumatizing and scary to endure, not to mention the costly medical bills and repairs that can follow. If you believe you were injured physically and/or mentally in a car accident, call our Fort Lauderdale office at (561) 800-8000, or fill out our online form so we can understand how to best help you by scheduling an appointment with us.

Once you reach out to us, we will schedule you for a free consultation to discuss further how we could build your case and go about seeking compensation.

If you’re ready to file your pain and suffering claim, reach out to us today.