Car accidents are sudden and unplanned events that can lead to much pain and suffering. As an aftermath of accidents, victims suffer lots of losses and damages. An auto accident can be life-changing in several ways. It can affect the physical, financial, mental, and psychological aspects of victims’ lives.
Victims of car accidents seek compensation for their damages and injuries. This is called filing a personal injury claim. In a personal injury claim, there are three types of damages victims are entitled to. They are economic damages, non-economic damages, and punitive damages.
Pain and suffering fall under the category of non-economic damages because you can’t calculate it to a specific dollar amount. In this blog post, we would be telling you how to go about claiming pain and suffering after an auto accident in Atlanta.
What Is Pain and Suffering?
An auto accident victim with physical injuries may also have mental and physical suffering because of these injuries. When the law wants to award damages and compensation to individuals in this category, it is called “Pain and suffering.”
The compensation sum victims get for pain and suffering differs from case to case. But, one thing is for sure; in any pain and suffering claim, the plaintiff or victim has to think about how their injuries have affected their lifestyle and well-being. Victims of car accidents looking to claim this compensation also have to consider how it would affect their lives in the future.
Some of the factors the court or jury might consider before they decide on how much an individual can receive for pain and suffering include:
- The gravity of the individual’s injuries
- How these injuries have affected their ability to work, enjoy life and living, and participate in family or social relationships
- The amount of pain and distress that the injuries cause
- The length of time it takes for the injuries to heal
- The time it takes for the individual to receive medical treatment
- Possibility for the injuries to cause future pain or require future treatments such as therapy
When the court considers all these factors, they would then be able to determine how much compensation you should get.
Claiming Pain and Suffering From an Atlanta Car Accident
Filing a claim for “Pain and suffering” can be long and difficult if you do not know the appropriate and necessary steps to take. This is why you need an experienced Atlanta personal injury attorney who would help you through your claim’s filing process.
Before a plaintiff can request pain and suffering compensation, the Atlanta court needs to believe that the defendant is indeed guilty of causing the crash. In other words, you have to prove to the court that you were not the at-fault driver in the accident.
After you have established to the court that the defendant was at fault in the crash, through the help of your attorney, you can move on to the next stage in the claiming process.
How To Prove Pain and Suffering
Another major step in winning your claim for pain and suffering in an Atlanta auto accident is to prove that you deserve the pain and suffering compensation. Proving it involves a lot of processes. Your personal injury lawyer and the insurance company would be there to assist you in this stage of the claims process.
In Atlanta, if you hope to prove to the court that you should get compensation for pain and suffering, you must carry out the following steps:
- Provide a compilation of all your medical bills
- Get documentation of all your medical records, diagnosis, and treatments
- Have enough reliable eyewitness testimonies
- Supply a copy of police reports
- Gather enough evidence, such as pictures of your injuries, the accident report, etc.
- Make available copies of your psychiatric and therapy records.
If you follow these steps and listen to the personal injury attorney, you would prove that you indeed need the payment for pain and suffering. When this is done, your attorney will make sure you successfully claim your compensation.
Let Calvin Smith Law Help With Your Personal Injury Claim
Calvin Smith is a law firm committed to serving the residents of Atlanta, Georgia, and its environs. No matter where you are in the state, we are willing to come and help you with your case.
Our professional personal injury attorneys are available 24/7 all through the year to listen to you and attend to your cases. What’s more, is that we offer free case reviews to our new and old clients.
In addition to not paying any upfront fees, at Calvin Smith Law, you do not pay us if we do not win your case. Contact us today to get started on your case.
