In personal injury claims, injured parties can suffer a wide variety of injuries whether those injuries are physical, emotional, or mental. There is no way to take back an injury, so compensation to individuals injured due to the negligence of another must be made by awarding that person an amount of money. This type of compensation is known as non-pecuniary damages, which differs from pecuniary (or monetary or economic) damages such as wage loss.
What Are Pain & Suffering Damages?
The money an injured person receives in a personal injury claim is often referred to as damages, or awards, for pain and suffering. This amount represents compensation awarded to an injured party for the intangible losses suffered due to an accident or injury. These damages aim to address the physical and psychological pain, loss of enjoyment and decreased quality of life experienced by the victim.
The impact of an injury on someone can vary widely depending on the type of injury and the lawyers at Taylor & Blair LLP have experience dealing with a wide range of injuries, including:
- Fractures
- Brain Injury
- Spinal Cord Injuries
- Concussion/Head Injury
- Whiplash and Other Soft Tissue Injuries
- Psychological Injuries
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Chronic Complex Pain Syndrome
- Electric Injury
- Burn Injury
- Allergy Injury
How Does A Court Determine The Amount Of Damages?
Having an injury is one thing, but how do you know what the appropriate amount of monetary compensation you are entitled to? The answer to this question is more complicated than you would think. The Courts of British Columbia have established a useful, but non-exhaustive list of factors that the courts consider in making awards for pain and suffering, which include the:
- age of the plaintiff
- nature of the injury
- severity and duration of pain
- disability
- emotional suffering
- loss or impairment of life
- impairment of family, marital, and social relationships
- impairment of physical and mental abilities
- loss of lifestyle
Generally speaking, the severity of your injury, the length of your symptoms, and the impact on your private, recreational, and professional life govern what damages you are entitled to. Chronic back pain that doesn’t interfere with your day-to-day life or employment, would not attract as significant damages as chronic back pain that renders you completely disabled from work.
When it comes to deciding what amount of money you are entitled to the Court will look at previous court decisions and what plaintiffs with similar injuries with similar fact patterns were awarded.
What many people are unaware of is that there is a limit on pain and suffering awards in Canada. This limit was established in 1978 by the Supreme Court of Canada in a trilogy of cases (Andrews v. Grand & Toy Alberta Ltd., [1978] 2 S.C.R. 229, Arnold v. Teno, [1978] 2 S.C.R. 287, Thornton v. School Dist. No. 57 (Prince George), [1978] 2 S.C.R. 267) and was set at $100,000.00 in 1978. However, this limit has been adjusted for inflation and currently, the limit for pain and suffering is closer to $418,000.00.
An Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help
The experienced personal injury lawyers at Taylor & Blair LLP have been helping people injured due to the negligence of others for over 30 years. We have a large network of medical experts and specialists who can help confirm your injuries and prove they are caused by your accident to make sure you get the compensation you are entitled to.
Contact the lawyers at Taylor & Blair LLP today for a free consultation on your personal injury claim and your pain & suffering damages.