What are noneconomic damages?

Accidents, including car, truck, slip-and-fall, and pedestrian accidents, can result in a personal injury case. You can also file a personal injury claim for product liability, such as food poisoning or defective medical equipment, home appliances, construction equipment, or auto parts. Personal injury cases can recover costs for property damage, bodily injury, and pain and suffering. You can seek economic and noneconomic damages when filing a personal injury claim. Monetary damages include current and future medical bills or lost wages, but what are noneconomic damages?

What Are Noneconomic Damages?

noneconomic damages

Noneconomic damages cover pain and suffering in a personal injury lawsuit. Nevada law allows plaintiffs to seek noneconomic damages for various personal injury cases, including:

You do not need to sustain a physical injury to recover noneconomic damages; however, a bodily injury increases the likelihood you’ll receive compensation. Noneconomic damages include subjective losses, such as:

  • Loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed.
  • Emotional distress.
  • Inconvenience.
  • Disfigurement.
  • Physical impairment.
  • Mental anguish.
  • Anxiety.
  • Depression.
  • Insomnia.
  • Inability to engage in noneconomic activities.

Noneconomic damages don’t have a one-size-fits-all monetary value attached to them, making them more difficult to quantify with a specific dollar amount. A skilled personal injury attorney can help you calculate noneconomic damages for your claim. Contact the professionals at De Castroverde to discuss your potential economic and noneconomic damages.

What Is the Limit to Noneconomic Damages in Nevada?

Nevada has no upper limit on the compensation you can collect for noneconomic damages for all claims except medical malpractice. The law only requires that the amount granted is reasonable and fair. The extent of your injury or experience will determine the amount you can recover in noneconomic damages. For example, a broken arm will not receive the same compensation for pain and suffering as an arm needing reconstructive surgery and months of physical therapy to regain strength. Noneconomic damages tend to increase for the following scenarios:

  • Permanent loss of function.
  • Permanent disfigurement.
  • High medical bills.
  • Verified physical injury through x-rays or other medical tests.
  • Difficult recovery.
  • Lengthy recovery.

A medical malpractice lawsuit is considered professional negligence and carries a cap of $350,000 for pain and suffering, regardless of the number of defendants or plaintiffs involved.

How Do You Prove Pain and Suffering?

Part of the challenge with noneconomic damages is that they are subjective. You must convince the defendant’s insurance carrier, lawyer, or jury to award damages to prove you endured pain and suffering due to accident or product liability. You can help prove pain and suffering with the following evidence:

Medical Records

Medical records can make the subjective aspect of pain and suffering more real. Comprehensive treatment notes, imaging results, appointment records, and any other documentation you can collect regarding your treatment will help establish your claim.

Videos and Photographs

You can videotape physical therapy or other rehabilitation sessions to document what you endured due to your injury. Photographs of bruising, swelling, or before and after pictures showing disfigurement can also be compelling evidence of your pain and suffering.

Social Media, Emails, and Texts

Social media, emails, and texts can often solidify or break your injury case. Be careful of what you share online; do not expect privacy settings to protect you. Sharing posts on social media of you enjoying a family vacation or riding a bike with friends can make it appear that you’re not suffering. On the other hand, you can support your doctor’s testimony by proving that you’ve joined groups or followed blogs regarding a specific injury or recovery process.

Statements From Family, Friends, Co-Workers, and Therapists

Ask your loved ones to write a description of your life before and after the injury or accident to illustrate the changes you’ve experienced. If you’ve stopped doing activities you once enjoyed or no longer participated in events due to your injury or accident, having others share it from their perspective can be helpful. Also, having a group of people willing to testify for you can increase a settlement offer.

Mental Health Professional Statement

You don’t have to seek counseling to receive payment for pain and suffering; however, it can be beneficial in cases that lack physical injury. Noneconomic damages for anxiety, insomnia, or depression can be more credible if you have a mental health therapist statement explaining how the injury or accident has caused or amplified your mental health issues.

How is Pain and Suffering Calculated?

Pain and suffering claims in Nevada are negotiable, with most insurance companies using one of two proven methods for calculating damages to determine an acceptable settlement offer. The company may use a multiplier method or a per diem method.

Multiplying Your Compensatory Damages

This method takes your economic damages, such as lost wages or medical bills. It multiplies that by a number between one and five, depending on the severity of the injury or accident. The more permanent or painful the injury, the higher the multiplier.

Per Diem Method

Under this method, you ask for a specific dollar amount for each day you experience pain and suffering. The severity of your injury or accident determines that daily dollar amount.

Ultimately, your injury settlement will result from negotiations held between your lawyer and the defendant’s insurance company or lawyer based on many factors, such as:

  • Out-of-pocket expenses.
  • The severity of injuries.
  • Level of defendant’s wrongdoing.
  • Strength of your case.
  • Likelihood of the case going to trial.

Contact De Castroverde Today

If you or someone you love has been injured or involved in an accident resulting in pain and suffering, contact the skilled team at De Castroverde today. Call us at 702-919-6246 or complete our secure online form to request a free case evaluation. We will work hard to get you the compensation you deserve, including noneconomic damages. De Castroverde offers clear communication, the best possible service, a qualified attorney and legal team, a welcoming and stress-free environment, and Spanish-speaking staff to serve our clients. We’ve helped Las Vegas residents for over a decade, defending their rights while getting fair compensation.

Photo Credit: Money by Pictures of Money is licensed with CC BY 2.0