The Price of Pain and Suffering After a Florida Car Accident

It is difficult to describe what some victims of serious car crashes in Florida have to go through. Injuries, like traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, internal injuries or multiple fractures may require repeated and exhausting interventions and could lead to a very slow and painful rehabilitation process, or lifelong impairment.

If you can't adequately describe the pain and suffering a patient endures, how can you price them, and receive compensation?

Assigning a value to pain and suffering in Florida.

Juries, attorneys and insurance companies will look at many factors to determine how pain and suffering should be compensated. Quite obviously, this means that no two cases are alike, and that there are no exact rules, even if comparisons can be made between awarded settlements. Some factors have a decidedly greater influence than others, like:

• Job and income: Even though the victim's income shouldn't bear any relationship to pain and suffering, a low income may induce the jury to award a larger settlement, or not. Attorneys may suggest that his client's job makes it much harder for him to endure pain.
• Age: The victim's age is fundamental to the award, but not in a predictable way. An older person's weaker body may hurt more than a young one. A young victim could suffer for the remainder of a much longer life.
• Family and lifestyle: Someone with a healthy and active lifestyle could recover faster than a person suffering already from a number of ailments. A mother of four may not have the rest-time necessary to heal or alleviate the pain.
• Pre-existing injury: Black-and-white cases are easier to discuss, and injuries or ailments suffered prior to the accident will tend to blur the picture. Does the patient suffer more because of his health history? Or is the patient taking advantage of injuries he has had all along?
• Choice of attorney: Whether your case is handled by a general practice or family lawyer, a friend, a business lawyer or a personal injury lawyer with over 20 years of experience in auto accident cases will make all the difference in the world. In the subtle, subjective way the plaintiff, the lawyer, the insurance company and jury consider the claim, the attorney's experience, qualifications and skills are by far the most determinant factors.

If you have been involved in a car, motorcycle or truck accident in North and Central Florida, call the Daytona Beach personal injury attorneys of Johnson & Gilbert PA today toll free at (800) 556-8890 and locally at (386) 673-4412 or fill out the form on this page for a free consultation.

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