How is Pain & Suffering Calculated in a Massachusetts Injury Case?

If you were injured in a car crash in Massachusetts that was caused by another driver, you may be entitled to compensation for your damages – the economic and noneconomic losses you incurred.  Accident victims have a legal right to seek financial compensation for these losses through a bodily injury claim or a personal injury lawsuit. Measuring damages, however, to obtain fair compensation can be a complicated task.

Compensation for economic damages is rather straightforward. This covers the financial losses incurred because of the injuries suffered in a car accident, such as medical bills, lost wages, and rehabilitation costs. Compensation for non-economic damages – pain and suffering – is more difficult to quantify. Below, I will discuss how pain and suffering are measured and typically calculated.

What is Pain & Suffering Damages in Massachusetts?

An accident victim, who was injured in a motor vehicle crash caused by a negligent driver, is eligible for compensation for their pain and suffering as well as their economic or financial losses incurred. Pain and suffering are categories of non-economic damages.  This covers the intangible losses from an accident like emotional distress, physical pain, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of companionship.

Pain and suffering is an umbrella term encompassing the physical and emotional trauma a car accident and resulting injuries cause. When seeking compensation for pain and suffering in a Massachusetts personal injury claim, the law looks at physical pain the injuries caused as well as mental and emotional suffering. Establishing pain and suffering increases the amount of financial compensation you may receive.

Calculating Fair Compensation for Pain & Suffering Damages

In Massachusetts, pain and suffering damages are calculated based on several factors, and there is no true mathematical formula for determining the exact amount. Thus, these damages are more difficult to measure in comparison to the economic damages.

Economic damages are the financial losses incurred as a result of being injured in a car crash. For example, the medical bills and lost wages incurred are categories of economic damages. The medical bills and lost wage documentation can be obtained, and we can use basic math to calculate the financial losses. Pain and suffering, however, are more complicated because they are intangible and generally subjective.

An accident victim’s pain and suffering from injuries are not visible, which makes it more difficult to determine. Pain is subjective - it's an individual's personal experience and can't be directly observed by others. Also, people experience pain differently. An injury that may be extremely painful for one individual may not be that painful for another.  

The Two General Methods of Calculating Pain & Suffering

There are generally two methods of calculating pain and suffering compensation. While these are not based on firm rules or laws, they are the best methods to quantify these non-economic damages into an amount of money to compensate an accident victim for their pain and suffering.

The Multiplier Method

The first method is the multiplier method.  This method involves determining the total amount of economic or financial damages and then multiplying that total by a variable. Typically, the more severe the injury, the higher the variable.

For example, if you suffered a severe injury in a car accident, such as a broken leg that required surgery, and your total economic damages including medical bills and lost wages were $125,000, you would take that total and multiply it by a variable. In this example, the broken leg that required surgery would be considered a significant injury. So, you would use a higher variable, for instance 2.5. Therefore, it could be suggested that your pain and suffering are valued at $312,500 ($125,000 X 2.5).

However, in other cases with less serious injuries and financial losses, the variable used would be lower. For instance, in a low-speed rear-end crash where the accident victim suffered whiplash and incurred medical bills and lost wages totaling $10,000, a variable of 1.5 could be used. In this example, the pain and suffering may be suggested to be $15,000 ($10,000 x 1.5).

In our experience, auto insurance companies do not often use this multiplier method in their assessment of pain and suffering compensation.

The Weekly Rate Method

Additionally and more commonly, personal injury lawyers and many auto insurance companies use another common method to calculate pain and suffering damages. This other method is referred to as the weekly rate method. Using this approach, a specific dollar amount is allocated and multiplied by the number of weeks an accident victim treated or suffered.

Using the weekly rate method, if an accident victim suffered a lower back injury in a car crash and treated for 25 weeks, their pain and suffering may be valued by taking the number of weeks treated and multiplying that number by a weekly rate. Again, the extent of the injury will generally determine the weekly rate used. In this example, if the low back injury was a soft tissue strain, the weekly rate used would be much lower compared to an accident victim who suffered a herniated disc that required a spinal surgery.

Using the example above, assigning a weekly rate for a low back strain of $300 per week, the pain and suffering compensation may be valued at $7,500 (25 weeks X $300/week). However, a higher weekly rate may be assigned for a more serious lower back injury, which would result in much more compensation.

While these methods are general guides to assess pain and suffering compensation, there are many factors to consider when valuing pain and suffering compensation such as the severity of the injury, the length of recovery, the impact on an accident victim’s life, and any permanent disability from the injury.

Relying on a Jury to Determine Pain and Suffering Compensation

In Massachusetts, if an auto insurance company does not offer a fair and reasonable settlement to compensate you for your injuries, economic, and/or non-economic losses, you have the right to file and litigate a personal injury lawsuit against the negligent driver that caused your injuries.

In these situations, you may need to go to trial and let a jury determine the amount of compensation you deserve, including your pain and suffering. At the end of a jury trial,  the judge will instruct the jury that if they should find that the plaintiff is entitled to a verdict, they must award the plaintiff a sum of money that will compensate the plaintiff reasonably for (1) any pain, suffering, mental anguish, and physical injury already suffered and proximately resulting from the injury in question; and (2) any pain, suffering, mental anguish, physical injury which they find from the evidence in the case that a plaintiff is reasonably certain to suffer in the future from the same cause.

Juries in Massachusetts do not have a strict mathematical formula for calculating pain and suffering damages in personal injury cases. Instead, they use their common sense, personal life experiences, and judgment to determine a fair amount based on the evidence presented at trial.

Juries, however, can be unpredictable for many reasons. A jury consists of random individuals chosen from the community (the County in which the lawsuit is filed) who must reach a collective decision. Jurors often bring their own experiences, emotions, and biases to the courtroom, even though they are instructed to be impartial and objective. Sometimes, a dominant personality or a persuasive juror may influence the ultimate decision of the whole jury.

Additionally, jurors can be influenced by emotions, sympathy, or personal feelings about the defendant, victim, or lawyers trying the case. They don’t always make decisions purely based on the evidence and facts. This sometimes makes juries unpredictable.

If you were injured as a result of someone’s negligence, you have a right to be fairly compensated for your injuries, economic losses, and pain and suffering. Our experienced Massachusetts personal injury attorneys have years of experience handling these types of cases. We can help gather evidence, provide you with the advice and guidance needed, and value your pain and suffering damages to put you in the position to receive a fair amount of money for the injuries, pain, and suffering you endured.