Financial costs are often what come to mind when thinking about injury claims. It’s true that injuries can rapidly cause hospital bills to mount and result in lost wages from missed shifts. However, injuries can also resonate in your mind. They can disrupt your routine and alter what you perceive as normal. These are called emotional damages. This can leave some wondering how emotional damages are calculated in Pennsylvania.
When it comes to calculating emotional damages in Pennsylvania, the process leans more towards careful thought than strict formulas. Calculating emotional damages doesn’t involve a basic equation. Instead, these types of damages fall under the category of non-economic damages. While Pennsylvania law does recognize emotional harm as part of a personal injury claim, they require further explanation.
Understanding Emotional Damages
Harm to your emotional state is considered emotional damage. Some examples include anxiety, depression, fear, or loss of enjoyment. Emotional damages aren’t associated with a single bill or receipt. They speak to how the injury impacted your day-to-day life and routines.
Perhaps you have had trouble sleeping since your injury. Maybe you’ve lost the desire to be with your friends and family as much as you did before. Known also as non-economic damages, emotional trauma is very real. In Pennsylvania, it can be reclaimed as part of an injury if someone else was at fault.
The Difference Between Economic and Non-Economic Damages
Personal injury damages fall into one of two categories: economic or non-economic. As you might have guessed, economic damages refer to monetary costs like medical bills. Non-economic damages are things like pain and suffering or emotional trauma. Understanding the difference between economic and non-economic damages can help you see how emotional damages are calculated in Pennsylvania.
Since economic damages are tied to a specific dollar amount, it’s easier to determine your total economic cost. However, pain, suffering, and emotional trauma are less concrete. Several factors go into evaluating your emotional wellness after an injury. These can include how bad your injury was, how long you had to recover, and more.
According to the CDC, 5.9% of adults age 18 and older had an injury in the last 3 months that limited their activity. There were 57.5 million visits to physician offices for injuries and 43.5 million emergency room visits.
Evaluating Emotional Damages
In short, there is no standard formula used to calculate emotional damages in Pennsylvania. However, there are factors that help determine your emotional damages. Some of these factors include:
- How serious your injury was
- How long you have to recover, and if any effects are long-term
- How your injury affected your daily life and relationships
- Any medical or psychological treatment you’ve received
- Your own personal testimony, as well as those who know you
Each injury and personal injury case is different. As such, emotional damages are calculated using your own personal experience with the injury.
The Importance of Medical Evidence
Just because emotional damages are intangible doesn’t mean that evidence isn’t involved. If you seek medical or mental health treatment for your emotional trauma, you can use those records to help prove your injury. For instance, if you are diagnosed with anxiety or post-traumatic stress after an accident, your doctor can explain why you feel the way you do.
Ongoing treatment records can also show that you’ll feel these effects for more than just a few months. Emotional damage can often stem from the injury itself. Medical evidence can help justify that there is a reason for your emotional trauma.
Pennsylvania Personal Injury Laws and Emotional Damages
Pennsylvania law allows individuals to seek recovery from another person who was negligent and caused them harm. Emotional damages are typically included in your total damage amount instead of being listed separately.
Pennsylvania also follows comparative negligence rules. This means that if multiple parties are responsible for the accident, your compensation may be reduced by your percentage of fault. However, this does not prevent you from being able to recover emotional damages due to an accident.
About SMT Legal
A Pittsburgh native, our office is located near the heart of the city, and just minutes away from the Allegheny County Courthouse. At SMT Legal, we pride ourselves on cultivating strong local connections. By combining seasoned experience in both personal injury and criminal defense, we’re able to provide the detail-oriented case preparation that our clients appreciate with a personal level of care that they can notice.
FAQs
How Much Can You Get for Emotional Distress in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania doesn’t have set amounts for emotional distress. Amounts awarded vary depending on severity and duration of suffering. How much your daily life is affected may also play a role. Other evidence, such as medical records, can also be factored into your calculation. Since each case is unique, emotional damages are determined individually.
What Is the Average Settlement for Emotional Distress?
When trying to determine how much your emotional distress claim is worth, you will not find an average settlement amount. Every case is unique, and the value of your case will depend on many factors, including the details of your injury, available evidence, and how the emotional distress has affected your daily life.
Many personal injury cases are settled outside of court. A Pennsylvania personal injury attorney can inform you of how much your claim is worth.
How Do I Estimate Emotional Damages?
There are no set formulas when calculating emotional damages; generally, they are based on the total impact of your injury. How severe it was, how long it lasted, and how it affected your daily life are just some factors used. Documentation through therapy records or a personal journal can help you determine value. Emotional damages are often paired with physical damages in a general personal injury claim.
Is It Worth Filing a Claim for Emotional Distress?
Whether or not it makes sense to pursue an emotional distress claim depends on how substantially your life has been affected and if you can prove it. Pennsylvania law allows for emotional damages to be claimed. However, they typically must be well documented. It all really depends on the strength of your case and how your life has been impacted by the injury.
Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer at SMT Legal Today
If you have suffered a personal injury and emotional damages, hire a personal injury lawyer right away. You may be able to recover compensation. Contact SMT Legal today to learn about your options.
