Slip and fall victims deserve compensation for more than medical bills and lost wages. Here’s how to successfully include pain and suffering in your personal injury claim.
When you’re injured, it’s critical to fairly and accurately assess your claim’s total value, including pain and suffering.
For most slip and fall settlements, pain and suffering is calculated as a multiple of medical expenses and other economic costs. Here we explore what counts as pain and suffering, how to calculate its value, and how to justify it to the insurance adjuster.
Dollar Value of Slip and Fall Pain and Suffering
There are no laws or reliable settlement calculators to determine the amount someone should receive for their pain and suffering. Every personal injury case is unique.
Insurance companies and personal injury lawyers often use software and years of experience with similar cases to arrive at fair compensation. You can use a simple rule of thumb known as the multiplier method to calculate your pain and suffering damages.
The multiplier method assumes someone’s suffering is worth a multiple of their total medical bills and lost income.
The total of your economic losses (also called special damages) helps determine how much your non-economic damages (also called general damages) are worth. The total of your economic and non-economic damages gives you a general idea of your claim’s settlement value.
Example: Calculating Slip and Fall Compensation
Miranda slipped and fell on an icy sidewalk at a popular coffee shop. The impact on the hard ground left her with bumps, bruises, and a sprained right wrist. Her winter coat was ruined and she missed two days from work.
Because her injury affected the use of her dominant hand, Miranda struggled with common activities of daily living, like hair care and cooking, for over a week until her wrist was less sore.
Miranda calculated her total economic damages as follows:
- Urgent care visit with X-rays: $350
- Property damage (ruined coat): $75
- Lost wages: $320
Total Economic Damages: $745
Pain and Suffering ($745 x 1.5): $894
Estimated Slip and Fall Settlement Value: ($745 + $894): $1,639
Miranda made a compensation demand to the insurance company for $1,700. After one negotiation phone call with the adjuster, her claim was quickly settled for $1,500.
If you recovered from mild to moderate injuries, using a multiplier of 1, 1.5, or 2 would be a fair and reasonable way to calculate a dollar amount for your pain and suffering.
If you suffered serious injuries, involving a brain injury, the permanent loss of use of one or more body functions or parts, scarring, or permanent disfigurement, your attorney will use a much higher multiplier.
A lower multiplier is fair if you:
- Sustained only soft tissue injuries
- Had higher expenses for medical tests than medical treatment
- Were treated by a chiropractor instead of a medical doctor
- Needed only a few medical visits
- Were able to return to your everyday life after a brief period
A mid-range multiplier might apply to injuries that:
- Impact daily life for a longer but limited time
- Made you depend on others in ways you didn’t before
- Caused you to miss important things such as school, vacations, or family events
The Two Types of Pain and Suffering
There are two types of damages that fall under the category of pain and suffering – physical and mental.
1. Physical pain and suffering is pain from actual physical injuries. It includes the pain and discomfort you’ve endured since your slip and fall and the discomfort you’ll likely suffer in the future because of your injuries.
2. Mental pain and suffering arises from your physical injuries. It’s generally described as any negative emotions that an injured person experiences because of physical pain and trauma.
Mental pain and suffering includes:
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Fear
- Humiliation
- Anxiety
- Loss of consortium
Those with extreme mental pain and suffering can experience depression, anger, loss of appetite, lack of energy, mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and trouble sleeping. Some victims even develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Like physical pain and suffering, mental pain and suffering includes the effects the victim has suffered to date. It can also include any future suffering they might endure.
Example of Significant Psychological Suffering
Joe slipped and fell at the top of the stairs in an office building. He tumbled down an entire flight of stairs. Doctors diagnosed him with a concussion and multiple broken bones. He endured headaches and bone pain for several weeks.
Joe was angry and depressed after the fall. Bone pain kept him awake at night and he had no appetite. His doctor referred him to a psychologist and a therapist.
Joe was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. He received six months of mental health treatments with medications and counseling.
Since Joe’s mental health issues are directly linked to his slip and fall accident, he can seek substantial damages for mental pain and suffering in addition to his physical pain and suffering.
There are levels or degrees of pain and suffering, ranging from severe mental health issues to forms of emotional distress that don’t require medical intervention.
You are justified in seeking pain and suffering compensation for injury-related effects on your quality of life, even if you suffered relatively mild injuries.
Example of Mild Pain and Suffering
Lisa slipped and fell on a wet floor in the mall. Her doctor diagnosed her with a back strain caused by the fall. Lisa’s injury prevented her from exercising for several weeks. She also missed a marathon she’d trained months for.
Unable to participate in the marathon, Lisa became slightly depressed, frustrated, and generally unhappy. While she didn’t have to see a mental health professional, she did endure some loss of enjoyment of life as a result of her accident.
Insurance adjusters rarely compensate slip and fall victims for pain and suffering unless there are verified physical injuries. In other words, you won’t get far making a claim for the embarrassment of falling in public if you weren’t hurt.
Factors that Impact Your Slip and Fall Injury Compensation
The appropriate value of pain and suffering damages is often open to interpretation. However, some factors can change their worth. Some you have control over and others you don’t.
Insurance companies want to settle claims for as little as possible. Adjusters are trained to consider how your case might look to a jury. If the victim has good evidence, and will appeal to a sympathetic jury, the insurer will pay more to settle out of court.
Adjusters are more willing to pay when the victim:
- Will be a good witness
- Is likable and credible
- Gives consistent and truthful testimony about their injuries
- Has a physician’s support for their claims of pain and suffering
- Has a diagnosis, injuries, and medical expenses that make sense
Adjusters will challenge pain and suffering claims when a victim:
- Exaggerates their claims of pain and suffering
- Has a criminal record or history of substance abuse
- Was intoxicated when they fell
- Contributed to the circumstances causing the injuries
Caps and Limits on Available Funds
The policy limits of the applicable insurance coverage can impact how much a victim receives. For example, a homeowner’s insurance policy will typically have lower limits than a grocery store’s commercial liability policy. If you fell at a neighbor’s house, there will be less money available than if you fell at a store.
State damage caps can also limit non-economic damages for a personal injury.
Each state has its own laws about damage caps, and some don’t have caps. If you live in a state with damage caps, your recovery for pain and suffering can’t exceed the cap, no matter how severely you were injured.
How to Justify a Slip and Fall Settlement Demand
Typically, a slip and fall victim will file a claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company to receive compensation for their injuries.
Settlement negotiations start when you send a written demand for compensation to the insurance company. Your demand letter should include a section that explains your pain and suffering. Emphasize both the physical and mental distress you’ve endured.
Sample Explanation of Pain and Suffering in Demand Letter:
“… Because of multiple dangers on the stairs, including two violations of the building code, I fell and suffered a shattered left arm and cuts to my face. My arm required surgery and several months of rehabilitation. The injury left me with some permanent loss of use to my arm and facial scars.
My injuries caused several negative outcomes. For example, I couldn’t attend my family’s annual reunion in July because I couldn’t travel during my recovery. I had to rely on others for help dressing and taking care of myself. Because the injury affected my dominant arm, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to return to my painting hobby or horseback riding.
My pain has been excruciating, requiring narcotic pain medications that made me dizzy and weak. Although I am off narcotic medications now, I take other daily pain medications that are hard on my stomach for shooting pains in my arm.
I still have nightmares about falling down the stairs. I avoid taking stairs as much as I can now. If I must use them or even get too close to them, I become anxious and shaky.
The stress from not providing income or physical care to my family has affected my relationships with my spouse and my children.
When I fell, I suffered cuts to my face and had to have stitches for the cut on my lip.
As you can see from the enclosed photograph, the wound has left a scar on the outside of my right upper lip. My physician told me its appearance will reduce somewhat over time, but a permanently visible scar will remain…”
Include Evidence Supporting Your Demand
Along with your letter, it’s essential to provide evidence for the pain and suffering you endure.
The insurance adjuster is less likely to suspect you are exaggerating your pain and suffering damages when you provide medical records and witness statements describing your pain, limited range of motion, and emotional status.
If you kept an injury claim log or journal, it will help you remember more specific details about your pain and suffering. If your injury caused you to cancel a vacation or business trip, or miss a special family event, write about those details.
Explain your pain and discomfort at each stage of recovery using expressive and descriptive words.
Describe any of the following if they apply:
- Side effects of prescription medications
- Strained relationships due to your injuries
- The inability to participate in normal daily functions
- Your need to rely on others for help
It’s crucial to express that you didn’t ask for your injuries and their consequences. Write about how you didn’t have the time or a desire to be incapacitated for weeks, suffering from constant pain, and missing work.
Attorneys Can Maximize Final Compensation
While some slip and fall victims are comfortable handling their own claims, others turn to a personal injury attorney’s expertise. An attorney should always handle severe injury claims or wrongful death cases. Hiring an attorney will ensure the maximum personal injury settlement amount for the victim and their family.
A good attorney can push back if the insurance company tries to blame you for the fall or argues that your age or a pre-existing condition caused your injuries.
If your damages exceed the insurance policy limits, your attorney can explore going after the property owner for the difference.
Seasoned personal injury attorneys can also negotiate a reduction of medical liens, so you walk away with more money in your pocket.
Most injury law firms offer a free consultation to fall victims and their loved ones. Slip and fall lawyers work on a contingency fees basis, meaning they only get paid if they settle an injury claim or win a court verdict in a personal injury lawsuit.