Damages compensate you for the financial losses, pain, and suffering caused by a personal injury or accident. South Carolina is an at-fault state for personal injury claims. Therefore, you must prove another party caused your injuries to receive compensation for damages. The facts of your case determine the types and amounts of damages you may receive for a personal injury claim.
There are two types of compensatory damages for personal injury claims. Economic damages compensate you for your monetary losses and expenses related to your injuries. Examples include lost wages, property damage, medical bills, and out-of-pocket expenses.
Non-economic damages represent the pain and suffering you experienced because of another party’s negligence, intentional torts, or other wrongful acts. South Carolina’s Non-economic Damages Awards Act of 2005 lists numerous types of non-economic damages that a skilled personal injury lawyer can help you pursue.
Physical Impairment
Many personal injuries cause permanent impairments and disabilities. Non-economic damages compensate you for this loss.
Examples of physical impairments include paralysis and vision loss. However, it also includes partial impairments caused by your injuries. For instance, a broken bone might prevent you from standing for long periods but does not entirely prevent you from walking and standing.
Scarring and Disfigurement
Injuries may also cause significant scarring and disfigurement. Examples include severe burns, amputations, loss of limbs, facial injuries, and lacerations.
Emotional Distress and Mental Anguish
Being in an accident is a traumatic event, which could result in PTSD and other psychological injuries. Your injuries and the medical treatment you receive can also cause severe anxiety, chronic depression, and emotional suffering.
Humiliation and Inconvenience
Humiliation takes many forms. For instance, you might be embarrassed by your appearance after the accident. You may experience distress if you need to hire someone to bathe and dress you because of a disabling condition caused by your injuries.
Inconvenience damages would include not being able to participate in the activities you enjoyed before the accident. It could include being unable to perform tasks to care for yourself, your home, or your family.
Pain and Suffering
This category of damages refers to the suffering you experience because of your injuries. Some injuries cause chronic pain that could be debilitating. Suffering may include being confined to your home, a hospital, or a rehabilitation facility.
Loss of Consortium
A loss of consortium claim is filed by your spouse for the non-economic damages caused by your injuries. For example, your injuries may prevent you from offering support, guidance, love, and affection for your spouse.
Loss of Enjoyment of Life
This category of damages refers to being unable to engage in the activities, hobbies, and pastimes you did before your injuries. For example, you were an avid swimmer before the accident. However, your injuries prevent you from swimming in the future.
Calculating the Value of Non-Economic Damages for a Columbia Personal Injury Case
South Carolina does not have a set formula for calculating the value of non-economic damages. Placing a value on someone’s pain is difficult. Pain and suffering are subjective, so everyone’s experience is unique. However, the multiplier method is recognized as a standard way to calculate non-economic damages.
The multiplier method begins with assigning a “multiplier” to the case. The multiplier is a number between 1.5 and five. Determining the multiplier is often the point of controversy when negotiating pain and suffering damages.
As your pain and suffering increases, the multiplier increases. However, because pain and suffering are subjective, everyone has a different view of how much your suffering is worth. Therefore, we examine the factors of your case to determine the multiplier.
Factors used in choosing a multiplier include, but are not limited to:
- The type of injuries
- The medical treatments required for your injuries
- The type and severity of impairments and disabilities caused by the injuries
- Whether you are able to return to your job or perform any work to earn income
- Scarring and disfigurement (i.e., your appearance before and after the injury)
- How your injuries impact your ability to perform daily tasks
- Whether you are limited or prevented from returning to normal activities
- How your injuries impact personal relationships with your family and friends
The multiplier should increase as the severity of your injuries and impairment increases. For example, someone who recovers fully from a broken leg might have a multiplier of two or 2.5.
However, someone with partial paralysis might have a multiplier of four. Complete paralysis or severe traumatic brain injury that results in significant cognitive impairments could result in a multiplier of five.
You multiply the total of your economic damages (financial losses) by the multiplier to calculate the value of non-economic damages. Insurance companies argue for a low multiplier. Your Columbia personal injury lawyer works to increase the multiplier to maximize your personal injury settlement.
What Is the Deadline for Filing Claims for Non-Economic Damages in South Carolina?
Your non-economic damages are part of your personal injury case. Therefore, the deadline for seeking non-economic damages is the deadline for filing your personal injury claim.
Most personal injury lawsuits in South Carolina must be filed within three years from the injury or accident date. There could be an exception that could change the deadline in your case.
A Columbia Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help You Seek Non-Economic Damages
If you have questions about non-economic damages in a South Carolina personal injury case, contact a Columbia personal injury lawyer for a free consultation. Because your time to file a claim is limited, seeking legal advice as soon as possible is best.
