Getting compensated for your pain and suffering is only part of the personal injury compensation puzzle. The exact level of compensation for pain and suffering comes down to both your medical expenses and the way the at-fault driver's actions affected your life. Read on for a better understanding of how pain and suffering can be turned into dollars and cents and how you'll be paid for your accident.

Pain and Suffering

You've probably heard the term but you may not understand what it means. As with most things legal, the exact definition can be difficult since it involves two areas of damage. Here are the two damage categories: medical expenses and the impact of the accident on your emotional life.

Medical Expenses

While the value of their methods may be debatable, most insurance companies will use the total dollar amount of your medical expenses (at the time) in their calculations. The more money the insurance carrier has paid against your medical expenses the higher the amount that forms the basis for the pain and suffering calculation will be.

The calculations don't stop there though; the case workers assign a multiplier to the level of your pain and suffering, and this number is multiplied by the medical expense number to arrive at a number for your pain and suffering. This sounds complicated, but you might want to play around with an online calculator that gives you an idea of what to expect.

The Pain and Suffering Multiplier

As previously stated, the insurance company assigns a number to be a multiplier--this number can be any number from 1.5 to 5. As you might imagine, the higher the multiplier the more your compensation. The number they choose is, in part, up to you and your personal injury lawyer. One of the main aspects of the multiplier level is the way the accident has affected your life.

Only you know the answer to that, and you can help assure a larger money damage payout by keeping a journal during your accident recovery. Record your day-to-day struggles with your injury, the pain, and the general discomfort the injuries are causing. Record your feelings about missing out on an event in your child's life due to the wreck and how you are having trouble sleeping. Record your moods and note any mental health treatment you've had to undergo because of the wreck.

Your journal along with your medical records form the core of how much you deserve to seek when it comes to pain and suffering. Speak to your personal injury lawyer to learn more. If you are looking for a lawyer to help with your car accident case, contact a local law firm like McMenamin & McMenamin, PS.