Tips for Proving Pain and Suffering in Personal Injury Case

When you have been injured due to the negligence of another party, New York law allows you to get compensation for the pain and suffering you endure. But how do you prove that you are enduring pain and suffering? An insurance adjuster or a jury member can’t feel your pain after you are hurt in a car accident or on the job.

While there is effectively no way to prove you are suffering pain, there are ways you can present evidence that you are experiencing pain. If you have been seriously injured by another party, remember the following tips.

Keep Notes About Your Pain

Do you ever wonder how a doctor determines how much pain somebody is in? Most doctors use the pain scale and ask patients to define their pain on a scale of 0 to 10.

Despite this seeming to be non-scientific, years of evidence show that patients are surprisingly good at defining their pain on that scale and rarely lie about their pain level to doctors.

While that is useful information if you are visiting a doctor, how does it help when you aren’t at a doctor’s office? Just because you aren’t talking to a doctor, that doesn’t mean you can’t rate your pain. When experiencing daily pain, you should keep a journal and record how much pain you are feeling each day.

While your ratings won’t be perfect, they should provide third parties with a general idea of how much you were suffering. As a rule, anyone willing to track pain over long periods is probably being honest about the pain they are feeling.

Preserve Medical Records

You should also preserve all medical records you get. While these records probably don’t indicate exactly how much pain you are suffering, they will indicate what symptoms you are showing and how your injuries are progressing. They will also indicate what treatments you are receiving.

Insurance companies and lawyers can determine approximately how much pain you are suffering based on these records by comparing your injuries and treatment to past patients. It is a good starting point for any settlement negotiations with an insurance company.

Take Photographs and Video of Your Injuries

This tip matters most if your case goes to trial. Jury members may have difficulty understanding complex medical terms. But they are much more likely to understand your condition if they see images of your injuries for themselves.

For example, pictures of extensive burns across your torso are almost certain to make jury members wince in empathy.

Similarly, you should take pictures of any medical devices you use or any adaptations you have to make because of your injury. It is one thing to say you have a colostomy bag. It is quite a different thing for a jury member to see an image of one and how it affects your life.

Eyewitness Statements

Your doctor only sees you occasionally. But your coworker sees you almost every day. While an insurance company might try to claim that you faked your injury while in the doctor’s office, they will have much more difficulty countering the testimony of a co-worker or boss who sees you scream in pain several times a day.

These statements may need to turn into actual testimony if your case goes to trial. However, with enough statements, your case is likely to end with a settlement. Insurance companies typically don’t want to spend lots of money just to lose a case.

Obtain Expert Testimony

While most people associate expert testimony with trials, it can also be used pre-trial to prove your claims for negotiating purposes. An expert can’t testify to the specifics of your case, but they can explain how much pain most people in similar situations feel.

Just involving an expert may be enough to get the insurance company to budge on pain and suffering compensation when it was previously intractable. That shows that you are willing to fight for fair compensation and will almost certainly take the case to trial if the insurance company doesn’t act in good faith.

Furthermore, since you already paid for the expert testimony (probably via a deposition), there is probably little extra cost to you if they also need to testify at a trial.

A New York Personal Injury Lawyer From ASK4SAM Can Help You Prove Pain and Suffering

While proving pain and suffering is never possible, with enough evidence, you can convince an insurance company or jury to give you compensation after suffering an injury. Contact our legal team today and ASK4SAM to discuss the best ways to support your claim.