How to Get Compensation for Pain and Suffering in New York

Key Takeaways

• Because New York is a no-fault state, you can only sue an at-fault driver for pain and suffering if your injuries exceed PIP coverage and meet the state’s serious injury threshold.
• These “noneconomic damages” compensate you for physical agony, emotional trauma, and your overall loss of enjoyment of life.
• Since pain doesn’t come with a receipt, proving your claim requires medical records, a personal daily symptom journal, and testimony from loved ones.
• Insurers and juries typically value claims using the Multiplier Method (multiplying your financial losses by 1.5 to 5) or the Per Diem Method (assigning a daily dollar rate for your recovery period).
• The final dollar amount for your pain and suffering is either negotiated with the insurance company out of court or decided by a jury if your case goes to trial.

Have you recently been injured in an accident in New York caused by someone else? If so, you could be entitled to money for the harm that person caused you – including compensation for pain and suffering.

However, it can be hard to put a fair value on something as personal as the feeling of physical discomfort and emotional distress. Plus, if you were hurt in a car accident, you will need to meet New York State’s “serious injury threshold” to pursue pain and suffering damages in the first place.

To pursue the fair compensation you deserve, you may need the help of an experienced, aggressive New York personal injury attorney.

What Is Pain and Suffering Compensation?

“Pain and suffering” is a legal term that describes the physical and emotional harm caused by injuries.

Damages for pain and suffering are considered non-economic damages, meaning they compensate an accident victim for the aspects of their injuries that do not have an obvious dollar value. This distinguishes them from economic damages, which are more easily quantifiable: things like medical bills, lost income, and property damage.

Types of Pain and Suffering You May Recover

Pain and suffering can cover a wide range of negative experiences after suffering injuries in an accident. As such, you could potentially seek financial compensation for your:

• Physical discomfort
• Emotional distress
• Mental anguish
• Psychological trauma
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Fear
• Shock
• Humiliation
• Embarrassment
• Scarring and disfigurement
• Loss of enjoyment of life

Understanding New York’s Serious Injury Threshold

Because of its no-fault insurance system, New York has special rules for awarding pain and suffering damages after a car crash. Under this system, every driver must carry personal injury protection (PIP) coverage as part of their auto insurance policy. PIP generally pays up to $50,000 to cover medical expenses, offset a portion of lost wages, and replace household services while the policyholder heals.

The good news about PIP is that it pays injured motorists regardless of who was at fault for the crash. The bad news is that it does not pay for pain and suffering.

In most cases, a car accident victim can only seek pain and suffering damages from the at-fault driver if they have sustained a serious injury, which the state defines as:

• A fracture
• Dismemberment
• Significant disfigurement
• The loss of a fetus
• Significant limitation of a bodily function or system
• Permanent loss of use or limitation of a bodily member, organ, function, or system

If your injuries after a car accident meet any of these criteria, you can sue an at-fault driver for your pain and suffering.

How Do You Prove Pain and Suffering in a New York Injury Claim?

One of the most challenging aspects of pain and suffering claims is that they’re subjective to the injured person. How can attorneys and juries put a dollar value on something they can’t personally experience? The answer is through evidence like:

• Medical records, including from psychologists or other mental health practitioners
• Testimony from the injured party, including through pain journals recording their daily discomfort levels and frustrations
• Testimony from friends and relatives who can attest to the injured person’s reduced quality of life
• Pictures and videos documenting the injuries and their effects

How Pain and Suffering Damages Are Calculated

When personal injury cases go to trial, juries can decide on any pain and suffering amount they think is fair based on the evidence they’ve heard. Unlike some states, New York generally does not place a hard cap on the amount of pain and suffering damages that a jury can award.

However, most successful personal injury cases do not go all the way to trial, where a jury can weigh in. Instead, the two parties settle out of court, and they must approximate what a jury might award.

There are a few methods for determining how to calculate pain and suffering damages for a personal injury settlement. The two most common are:

• Multiplier method – A number between 1.5 and 5 is selected, with a higher number representing more significant pain and suffering. That number is then multiplied by the amount of economic damages to arrive at a final figure. For example, let’s imagine a victim suffers $100,000 in medical bills, lost income, and property damage. If they agree to a multiplier of 2.5, they would receive $250,000 in total damages.
• Per diem method – A number is chosen to represent a single day’s pain and suffering – often the wages the victim would earn in a day. This number is then multiplied by the number of days that their pain and suffering are expected to last. For example, let’s imagine a victim has a per diem rate of $150 and will experience pain and suffering for 90 days. This would yield $13,500 in damages for pain and suffering.

What Factors Can Increase or Decrease Pain and Suffering Compensation?

How much an injured person gets in pain and suffering damages will depend on unique factors such as:

• The severity of their injuries and how long it takes to recover from them
• Whether their injuries result in permanent disability
• The intensity and duration of the physical pain they endured
• The trauma they experienced because of the underlying incident
• The impact the injuries have on their overall independence and quality of life
• How old they were at the time they were injured
• Whether they had any underlying conditions

Contact Our Personal Injury Attorneys in Queens, NY for Legal Help

Have you been hurt in an accident in the Queens area? Do you want to sue for pain and suffering?

If so, The Tadchiev Law Firm, P.C. can help. We are prepared to investigate what happened, determine your eligibility for damages, work with experts to put a fair value on your pain and suffering, and fight hard for the full amount you deserve.

With over 120 years of combined legal experience, our team has a track record of success in complex personal injury claims, including a $1.3 million recovery for a truck accident victim.* If that isn’t enough, we have a 5-star average on Google with more than 250 reviews. Here’s how one former client described working with us:

“Boris and his team really care about their clients and fight for every penny. Thank you so much for everything.” – Coumbourou Mangane

Contact us today to get started with a free consultation.

*Each case is unique, and past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

About the Author

Boris Tadchiev
Boris Tadchiev is the founding partner at The Tadchiev Law Firm, P.C. He focuses his practice on advocating for the rights of individuals and families in personal injury cases involving motor vehicle accidents, premises liability, and wrongful death. He also represents healthcare providers in complex no-fault arbitration claims.