Pain and Suffering and the Pain Journal

In NC, there is no formula to define how much money you should get for pain and suffering from an accident claim. It is totally up to a jury.  Or if you’re negotiating, it’s up to the adjuster evaluating your case.  This means that you’ll want to be as persuasive as you can be to make the adjuster worry about how much a jury might give you.  This is why I counsel clients to keep a pain journal from the day of the accident moving forward until they have nothing left to write – either because it’s all better or because it’s never going to change.

Keeping a consistent pain journal, documenting your pain and suffering and how your injuries affect your day to day routine helps to pain the picture of your suffering and therefore more accurately portray your experience, which should garner you more consideration from a jury (or adjuster).

Documenting in your pain journal is crucial.  This can play a huge role into how much you should get for pain and suffering. So do it!

The best practices for keeping your journal would be to write an entry every day. Start with the day of the accident and move forward. Each day write about 1) what hurts, 2) how badly it hurts and 3) how it affects your daily activities. This may seem time-consuming but it can make all the difference in helping the adjuster and maybe a jury better understand how this accident and injuries have affected you. Keep up with this until you have nothing left to say.

If you’re hurt, call me at 919-929-2992.