Car Accident Pain and Suffering Damages

If you have been injured in an auto accident caused by someone else’s actions, you probably have hospital bills, other medical bills, vehicle damage costs.

Along with these types of damages, you are also entitled to compensation for all of the pain and suffering you have endured because of the car accident. Nevertheless, the total amount that can be recovered will vary based on the jurisdiction where the accident took place and the facts and circumstances of your case. If you are wondering how much your car accident case is worth, there are several factors that determine your final compensation.

Below, our car accident attorneys explain how pain and suffering damages work in Georgia and how they are recovered.

What are “Damages”?

“Damages” are a fancy legal term for the loss that a victim sustained as a result of someone else’s actions. For a rear-end car accident, “damages” refers to the amount of money that will add up to your total losses as a result of the car accident. What we recover for our clients in a car accident settlement, or in a judgment at trial, is called “damages.”

What are the Different Kinds of Damages?

Under Georgia law, the damages that a car accident victim can recover are broken down into two different categories: special damages and general damages.

Special damages are the damages that correspond to a specific economic harm. In other words, special damages are the damages that we will have actual numbers to prove.

For example, medical bills fall into the category of special damages because we can look to the actual charges by the medical provider to get an exact number. Another example of special damages are the loss of wages due to missed work and damage to your vehicle.

On the other hand, general damages are considered “noneconomic damages” which means there is not an exact number that can be attributed to the loss. General damages include things such as:

• Pain and suffering
• Loss of reputation
• Loss of companionship
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Emotional distress
• Mental anguish
• Physical disfigurement or impairment
• Shortened lifespan

Calculating Car Accident Pain and Suffering Damages

As listed above, pain and suffering are considered general damages. Medical treatment and vehicle damage are very easy to value because they can be proven with a medical bill or auto shop estimate.

However, car accident pain and suffering carries no comparable economic certainty. What this means is that there is not a lot of outside evidence that can be used to show how much pain and suffering the victim experienced. This also means that it can be complicated to actually show how much money would properly compensate the victim for the pain he or she experienced.

Also, pain and suffering is subjective. As we know, different people have different tolerance to pain. So, the way one person describes her pain may be very different from the way another person may describe the exact same injury.

This means that it has been nearly impossible for the courts to create guidelines or real standards to measure car accident pain and suffering damages.

How Do You Determine Car Accident Pain and Suffering Damages?

Because the amount of pain and suffering experienced by a car accident victim is difficult to show, Georgia courts consider a number of different factors in order to determine the actual amount of money to be paid for pain and suffering. These factors include:

• The amount of special damages claimed
• The severity of the injury
• How long recovery took, and whether it is complete
• Any scarring or disfigurement, and where on the body it is
• How the injury has changed daily life, work and activities
• The potential for ongoing pain and future consequences One thing Georgia does not do is cap this figure. The state has no statutory ceiling on non-economic damages in an ordinary personal injury case — the medical-malpractice cap was struck down as unconstitutional by the Georgia Supreme Court in 2010 — so what a jury awards for pain and suffering is bounded by the evidence rather than by statute.

The “Multiplier” Method

One method that some attorneys use to calculate pain and suffering damages is called the “multiplier method”. In using this method, you apply a multiplier to the total number of special damages (medical bills, etc.).

The reasoning behind this method is that an injury with higher special damages, such as hospital bills or surgery bills, was probably more severe and should have higher pain and suffering damages as well.

However, this method is not without its faults. First, it can be difficult to determine which multiplier to use. Should it be 2x, or 10x, or somewhere in between? There is no fixed answer, but the following factors tend to push it up or down:

• Amount of property damage to the vehicles
• Whether the victim went to the ER in an ambulance from the scene of the accident
• The severity of fault by the driver who caused the accident (Georgia's comparative negligence rules can affect your recovery — see our FAQ on filing a claim if partially at fault)
• Whether the victim underwent surgery
• The amount of time that passed between the crash and the victim’s first doctor’s visit

Additionally, the multiplier method can lead to misleading results. For example, an actor who is disfigured in a car accident may have smaller medical bills than a teacher with a broken leg.

However, the actor relies on her image for her job, so the disfigurement may lead to more emotional distress warranting a higher multiplier.

The multiplier method is by no means a sure-fire way to determine the amount of car accident pain and suffering damages. But, it does help us with a starting point in determining the amount of pain and suffering damages you should claim. You can also try our settlement calculator to get an estimate that factors in pain and suffering.

Do you have a question about car accident pain and suffering damages?

Because there is no fixed way to calculate car accident pain and suffering damages, this part of a claim turns almost entirely on how well the effect on your life is documented and presented — medical records that track the pain over time, testimony from the people who see you daily, and evidence of what you can no longer do. That is the work, and it is why this figure varies so widely between claims that look similar on paper.

Find a Lawyer Who Works Georgia Auto Accidents All Day

At Georgia Auto Law we handle Georgia car accident cases and nothing else. That focus is the point: the rules that govern what pain and suffering is worth in this state, and the arguments insurers use to hold that number down, are what we work with every day. Call one of our auto attorneys at any time, day or night, on (404) 662-4949, or complete our consultation form and someone will reach out to you within minutes. Under our No Fee Pledge™ you pay no attorney’s fee unless we recover for you, and the consultation is free.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a lawyer for a Georgia car accident claim?

For minor property-damage claims, often no. For any claim involving injuries, missed work, lasting symptoms, or disputed fault, a Georgia personal-injury attorney typically recovers far more than the policyholder would negotiating alone, even after the contingency fee. Initial consultations are free.

Should I give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer?

No. The adjuster’s job is to minimize the payout, and recorded statements are mined later for any admission of fault, exaggeration, or inconsistency. You can decline politely and refer them to your attorney or your own insurer.

How is fault determined in a Georgia car accident?

Fault is determined through the police report, scene photos, witness statements, traffic-camera footage where available, vehicle damage patterns, and (for serious crashes) accident-reconstruction analysis. Insurance adjusters apply Georgia’s comparative-negligence rule under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33 when allocating fault percentages.

How long do I have to file a car-accident claim in Georgia?

Two years from the date of the crash under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 for personal injury and wrongful death. Property-damage-only claims have four years under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-32. Missing the deadline almost always bars the claim entirely, even if the at-fault driver clearly caused the crash.