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The phrase pain and suffering refer to the plaintiff’s pain, plus his or her emotional and mental injuries. After a 3rd party has filed a claim, the insurance company of the responsible party must determine the value of the claimed losses, which include pain and suffering.
Methods used most frequently for assigning a value to claimed pain and suffering
Multiplier method: The insurance adjuster calculates the product for equation where one factor represents a plaintiff’s medical expenses, and the other reflects the nature and severity of the plaintiff’s injuries. That second factor is usually a number between 1.5 and 5.
Per diem method: Here the insurance adjuster arrives at a number that will represent the value of the plaintiff’s loss for each day, from the time of the accident, until the plaintiff reached the level of maximum medical improvement (MMI). Consequently, the longer that it would take for the plaintiff to reach MMI, the higher would be the estimated value for the same plaintiff’s pain a suffering.
Computer programs: A growing number of insurance companies have chosen to use programmable software for determining the value for a plaintiff’s pain and suffering. That software includes calls for completion of far more calculations than those used in either the multiplier method or the per diem method.
The utilization of more calculations allows for a consideration of the type of treatment that was used by the injured plaintiff. If an insurance company relies on computer programs, then the insurance adjuster finds it easier to link a value for pain and suffering with the type of treatment used to address those same problems (pain and suffering).
In the past, insurance companies have offered a lower compensation to those plaintiffs that sought treatment from a chiropractor. Still, those same companies had no way to calculate the monetary value for a treatment routine that was designed by a chiropractor. Today, though, the introduction of computer programs has altered the situation. Now those programs assign a monetary value to general damages, a value that reflects the type of treatment used by the plaintiff. Consequently, insurers have a more logical reason for reducing the amount of compensation that gets delivered to someone that sought help from a chiropractor, as per Injury Lawyer in Sarnia.
Experts might supplement the figures produced by a computer program, if a case were to go to court. A jury would probably put more weight on testimony from a professional physician than from a chiropractor. Hence, it would probably award the plaintiff in a personal injury case with more money. That fact was apparent to insurance adjusters, even before the introduction of computer programs. Today, however, insurance adjusters have better reason for their estimates, regarding value of pain and suffering.