Pain and suffering are worthy of earning respectable compensation in Canada. Let’s know what pain and suffering are, how much pain and suffering are worth in Canada and how a personal injury lawyer BC calculates the compensation amount.
What are pain and suffering in an accident?
Pain and suffering are primarily compensable and noneconomic damages. It’s a personal injury that arises from the negligence of other parties—putting on discomfort and emotional distress.
So many traumatic injuries come under the umbrella of pain and suffering damages. Discomfort, anguish, inconvenience and emotional traumas are the most recognizable pain and suffering damages.
The invisible nature of pain and injury suffering makes it hard to measure compensation for mitigating this injury. Measurement of the actual amount is problematic in those cases. But calculating medical expenses and lost income amounts is relatively easy to measure.
How much is pain and suffering worth in Canada?
The recent change in the general rule came in 2014. According to the supreme court declaration of 2014, the approximate amount of damage suffering compensation is $350,000.00. However, in case of a catastrophically injured situation, the amount doesn’t exceed the limit either.
The old rule of pain and suffering damages was more limited and backdated. Hence, in 1978 the Supreme Court of Canada fixed non-pecuniary injured at $100,000.
It seems harsh to measure the injury damages in extreme cases. Thereby, damages to pain and suffering worth are limited.
Only for extreme accidents, where you lose limbs and brain function, something more catastrophic, the court comes out with the highest amount. But in chronic cases, the court reduces the award drastically.
How to calculate pain and suffering in Canada
Calculation of monetary damages is straightforward. You need to show the documents to earn a respectable amount on pecuniary damages. However, to earn non-pecuniary compensation, there are three approaches lawyers follow to calculate the damage:
The conceptual approach
This approach has a fixed value for mitigating each loss. The conceptual system works much better for any non-pecuniary damages. From ancient times the conceptual approach is going forward.
The personal approach
According to the victim’s loss or injury, the compensation measurement does. The amount of such kind of compensation varies from person to person and the type of the accident case.
The functional approach
Rather than focusing on personal and conceptual compensation, the court focuses on the price tag or loss of happiness in a functional approach. Court offers enough money, known as ‘reasonable solace’ to recover.
However, to get the highest amount, you should take the assistance of an injury lawyer. The court will decide the amount and award the compensation after the trial.
Establishment of damages for pain and suffering
Generally, pain and suffering damages are two types. In case of pecuniary damages, the damage claims basis of bills, payment receipts etc. Those documents help establish a firm ground for claiming damages for an injury.
On the other hand, non-pecuniary damages bring the complexities of claiming damages. Count of disfigured pain and suffering is a lot tougher. The insurance company sits in a strong position when claiming damages on that particular matter.
Therefore, you should look for the support of a veteran injury lawyer to establish your claim on non-pecuniary damages.
What is a reasonable amount of pain and suffering
There is no specific way of measuring how much pain and suffering you are facing. Regarding your pain and suffering, no amount is worthy enough. Even the highest amount is not enough to mitigate huge losses. Surprisingly, personal damages are not in the eye of lawmakers.
In today’s perspective, the amount of pain and suffering is meagre. Moreover, all victims need to understand the damages to establish the claim. Also, this figure is adjusted annually based on living costs to deal with the inflation rate.
But facing extensive injuries surely needs high amounts. With that very fixed rate, it will be tough to handle bad situations.
Conclusion
Pain and suffering injury provide a respectable amount as the award of compensation. However, proving pain and suffering damages is always a challenging task. That’s why taking the assistance of an injury lawyer in pain and suffering is the best option.
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