If you have been injured on the property of someone else, commonly known as a “slip and fall claim,” you may be able to receive compensation for the pain and suffering you experienced. Typically, pain and suffering can be worth between a few thousand dollars for minor injuries or substantially higher for severe injuries.
This post covers the potential value of pain and suffering in a slip-and-fall claim, what types of damages count as pain and suffering, and common ways that insurance adjusters and attorneys arrive at settlement values for pain and suffering.
If you have been injured in a slip and fall and have experienced pain and suffering, please call Stone Rose Law at (480) 498-8998 or use our contact form.
Non-economic damages, of which pain and suffering damages are a part, are a type of indirect harm. Unlike economic damages, such as medical bills or lost wages that can be easily calculated, non-economic damages are more subjective in their value.
Pain and suffering damages come in four categories:
We look at each of these below.
Traumatic injuries you may experience in a slip-and-fall case often lead to physical pain and discomfort. These are compensable in a settlement amount or a judgment award.
Some examples of injuries that give rise to pain and suffering damages claims are:
In addition to physical injuries, you can also experience mental harm from a slip-and-fall accident. Here are some common sources of emotional distress and mental anguish claims:
Some more severe injuries sustained in a slip-and-fall claim can have lasting effects, including scarring and disfigurement. These are compensable as non-economic damages.
Other long-term consequences from a slip-and-fall accident are those that affect your ability to work, enjoy life, maintain family and personal relationships, and/or engage in normal daily activities. Examples of these kinds of harm include:
In a slip and fall claim, you have two main options to seek compensation: settlement or a personal injury lawsuit based on the property owner’s negligence. Most slip-and-fall cases settle out of court.
Attorneys and insurance companies in Arizona usually use one of two methods to establish a value for your pain and suffering harm:
The multiplier method relies on first determining the value of the economic or direct harm damages you have suffered. Based on this sum, pain and suffering damages are calculated by an agreed-upon multiplier, usually between 1.5 and five times the amount of the economic damages you receive.
The multiplier number is subject to factors contributing to your pain and suffering harm. These factors include:
There is no formal or scientific formula to determine the multiplier value for pain and suffering. The more factors above that apply to you, and the more severe they are, the more they will increase your multiplier.
The multiplier method above is often used when it seems likely that your pain and suffering harm will be long-lasting or permanent.
If you can reasonably expect to fully recover from your injuries, the per diem calculation method is an alternative to the multiplier method.
The per diem method generally considers many of the same factors as the multiplier method. But instead of a multiplier, the parties will agree on a daily dollar value for the harm you suffered.
Once this value is set, the per diem period ordinarily begins on the date of your slip-and-fall injury and ends when your doctor establishes that you have recovered as much as you can reasonably be expected to, also known as your maximum medical improvement.
In a personal injury lawsuit for a slip and fall case, instead of the insurance company and attorneys deciding what the value of pain and suffering is worth, an arbitrator, judge, or jury decides.
Your personal injury plaintiff’s lawyer and the lawyer or lawyers for the defendants will seek to persuade the arbitrator, judge or jury of the merits of their respective clients’ sides of the lawsuit by presenting evidence including but not limited to:
Much of this evidence is also useful in settlement negotiations. Your personal injury attorney will gather evidence with a dual aim of supporting a more favorable settlement amount for you and, if necessary, taking your case to trial if settlement negotiations fail.
Under the constitution of Arizona, it is not permitted to establish state laws that would limit what you can recover for non-economic damages, including pain and suffering damages.
One way that a slip-and-fall case defendant or its insurer will try to reduce the amount of your recovery is by trying to apply the doctrine of comparative negligence to you.
In a personal injury lawsuit, comparative negligence is an affirmative defense. Its purpose is to show that you were at least partly at fault for the slip and fall accident and your resulting injuries. If the defendant is successful in doing this, then the court will reduce the amount of your judgment award by the percentage of your assigned fault.
For example, if the jury awards you $25,000 in damages but also concludes that you were 20% at fault for it, then your initial $25,000 will be reduced by $5000 (20%) to $20,000.
Comparative negligence is not an absolute defense. Meaning, it will not preclude you from recovering at least some damages for your injury. Theoretically, at least, even if the jury decides you were 99% at fault, you can still recover that remaining 1%.
A practical limitation on your ability to recover compensation for pain and suffering harm may be the ability of the defendant to pay. Insurance policy limits often dictate how much you can recover, especially if the defendant property owner does not have much in the way of assets in addition to insurance.
Your personal injury attorney will have the investigative resources to find out how much the property owner may be able to pay for your harm and to gather evidence to support the maximum recovery amount you can reasonably expect to pursue.
Because most slip-and-fall claims settle without trial, a key consideration in how much your settlement amount will be is how vigorously your personal injury lawyer presents your case in settlement negotiations.
Not every lawyer has the experience in personal injury claims negotiations to stand up effectively to insurance adjusters and defense lawyers, both of whom will be looking for every possible way to reduce your payout.
It can make a major difference to you to seek legal representation from an experienced slip-and-fall lawyer. An attorney who will thoroughly prepare your case for trial as well as settlement, and who will not be intimidated or fooled by the negotiating tactics of the property owner’s insurer and lawyers.
On average, slip and fall cases usually result in settlement amounts or judgment awards between a few thousand dollars for minor injuries and $50,000 for more serious injuries. These numbers can vary considerably, especially if your injuries sustained are catastrophic and have lifelong consequences for you.
In a worst-case situation, you may be the surviving relative of a family member who died because of a slip and fall accident. Wrongful death settlements and court awards can be much higher in value, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars or even more than a million dollars.
When you hire one of our Phoenix slip and fall injury attorneys at Stone Rose Law, your lawyer will negotiate with insurance companies on your behalf and their attorneys from the strongest possible position. We will help you to gather the evidence you need to support your claims, including your pain and suffering.
We will handle all aspects of your slip-and-fall settlement, including communicating with the other side’s insurance adjusters and lawyers, who might otherwise be eager to talk to you so they can persuade you to accept a low-ball settlement offer or try to get you to say things to them that can decrease your case settlement value.
If we cannot obtain what you need to recover fair compensation for your injury through negotiations, our Phoenix personal injury lawyers can represent you in a slip-and-fall lawsuit.
Call us today at (480) 498-8998 or use our contact form to talk with one of our experienced personal injury injury attorneys.
