Understanding Pain & Suffering
Pain & suffering after a personal injury accident can be bitter and depressing. The physical injuries sustained in an accident can lead to emotional distress and trauma. This can include irritability, sadness, anxiety, agitation, and insomnia. In a civil action, special damages or specials refer to lost income, medical bills, rehabilitation bills, damage to property, and out-of-pocket expenses.
General damages refer to settlement toward pain and suffering of the victim. These are paid in addition to the special damages.
General Damages
A victim suffers personal injury in an accident due to negligence of a third party, and the victim is ordered to undergo a barrage of tests such including biochemistry, x-rays, and CT scan. The cost of medical investigation is $5,000. This is recoverable under special damages. The victim suffers persistent pain in the hip and left knee, and is unable to sit, stand, walk, or lie down.
The victim is unable to sleep due to pain and is irritated, depressed and anxious. While specials are payable as the costs are measurable, general damages are difficult to evaluate. One cannot fix a value for emotional distress or anxiety. At the time of settling the general damages, the court will review the pain symptoms, the intensity and the duration of the symptoms to arrive at the settlement amount.
Settlement Letter for Compensation
It is time now to prepare your settlement letter for personal injury compensation. When it is time to file the claim, you may have to put the write amount for the pain and suffering you experienced but evaluating emotional distress is not going to be easy.
Submitting your settlement letter with the insurance company marks the final phase of the claim proceedings with the company. However, the insurance company is not likely to pay what you have demanded in your settlement letter. The settlement letter explains:
- The accident and the injury
- The damages due to the accident
- Your compensation amount
You collate all documents relating to the accident along with the settlement demand. Once the claims adjuster receives this document, negotiation toward settlement begins. Only when the negotiation fails you may have to file a lawsuit in a court for small claims. You can contact the New York City personal injury lawyers to know more on filing a lawsuit for your personal injury.
Impressive Settlement Letters
The claim adjuster is forced to make a fair offer for the loss if the settlement letter is:
- Well written
- Organized chronologically
- Supported by authentic documents and witness testimonies
Poorly written settlement demand letters can lead to repudiation or denial of the claim by the insurance companies. Settlement letters for compensation need to be formatted well. They need to look very professional and should be typed well, edited, and proofread for errors.
RMFW Knows How to Win Cases
Dealing with insurance adjusters requires experience and perseverance. They are paid to deny your claim. Call the New York City personal injury lawyers at Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff, & Wolff (RMFW) for help.
RMFW Law lawyers have settled numerous personal injury claims for millions of dollars for our clients. You can be on this list too. If you have a viable case we will bring home the bacon. We will not settle until you are OK with the amount and we will keep you informed of the case progression.
You need legal help. The other side is playing hardball and they know that if you do not have a strong attorney representing you, you are possibly setting yourself up for a disaster. We will make this count. Our # is 212-344-1000 and will not stop working until you are satisfied. The other side messed up and they should pay. Let us help you get your life back on track and come out even with a little extra on the side. After all, you deserve it!
