Being hurt in a car accident is a challenging experience for anyone, but if the injuries are severe and the psychological impact is also damaging, an injured party is likely curious about the potential to receive pain and suffering damages.

Damages for pain and suffering damages are not available in all states. Even if your state allows for the recovery of legitimate pain and suffering payments, knowing how to obtain them is not always simple to figure out. A common question presented by those who have been hurt in a crash is whether or not the insurance company will pay for pain and suffering.

How Does Car Insurance Work?

Car accident liability insurance is usually required by the state and is designed to protect the policy owner from injury claims and property damage that could be caused by reckless driving. More often than not, these policies protect the owner from every element of injury claims, including the fact that the company might pay for pain and suffering damages due to an accident.

What is Pain and Suffering?

Pain and suffering is different from other expenses tied to an accident, like those needed for medical care and bills. Pain and suffering refers to the emotional and mental stress and pain caused to someone in an accident. Since this number does not rely on clear evidence like medical bills or a work statement showing how many days someone missed, the amount of damages is often a point of contention in negotiations and lawsuits.

For this reason, pain and suffering damages are calculated separately from the other damages caused by an accident. Having an attorney can help a victim calculate the amount of pain and suffering damages to fight for in a legal case.

Do Insurance Companies Pay for Pain and Suffering?

One of the biggest challenges for a policyholder is coming to terms of agreement with the insurance company about the value of the pain and suffering damages. This comes up during negotiations, which can occur before or during a trial. Both sides will be involved in trying to estimate the pain and suffering payments that might be awarded by a jury.

When settlement negotiations fall through, either because the insurance company doesn’t agree to pay for pain and suffering damages in the amount the policyholder wants, or for some other reason, the case will proceed to trial.

Insurance companies will often be on the hook for pain and suffering under the umbrella of coverage offered with bodily injury liability. This frequently applies to pain and suffering requests post-accident. However, there are often policy limits in place pertaining to the insurance company’s liability for pain and suffering.

One of those limits is the highest amount that the insurer will pay to any individual claimant, and another is for any claim, no matter how many claimants are involved in the crash. Evidence is very important for someone in an accident to support the argument for pain and suffering.

What Evidence May Be Useful in a Pain and Suffering Lawsuit?

Since pain and suffering damages and other non-economic damages are harder to calculate than damages for medical expenses or property damage, it may be confusing to understand how much compensation you deserve to receive in a pain and suffering case. Car accident injury victims who want to pursue compensation for pain and suffering may find it helpful to hire a qualified attorney to help with their case. An experienced pain and suffering attorney will be able to review the facts and help you to assemble any evidence that may be beneficial in proving your claims to a court.

Examples of pain and suffering injuries that may qualify victims to pursue financial damages may include physical pain and discomfort, mental anguish such as stress, trauma, anxiety, or depression, physical impairment such as disability or disfigurement, embarrassment related to disability or disfigurement, lower quality of life, or loss of career.

Evidence that may aid victims in pain and suffering injury cases includes written accounts from medical experts testifying to victims’ mental or physical suffering, documentation of past and present medications, family and friend accounts of victims’ suffering, or the victim’s own written or spoken testimony regarding their pain and suffering. This testimony may include details about the severity of the injuries suffered, how these injuries have impacted the victim’s life, and how these injuries will continue to affect them for the foreseeable future.

This article is not legal advice or medical advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.