How Documenting Non-Economic Damages Can Help Prove Negligence

 
If you suffer non-economic damages due to negligence in New York, only a permanent injury will allow you to recoup more than $50,000. Also, you need to show damages to prove negligence in a personal injury case.

It is harder to add up the cost of non-economic damages, but they are equally important to your case's outcome. If you document these damages properly, you can prove negligence and improve your chances of receiving appropriate compensation.

Negligence as It Applies to a New York Personal Injury Case

As with any personal injury case, those filed in New York have four elements that you must demonstrate if you want to prove negligence.

 
Firstly, negligence means that the person who caused you harm (defendant) acted unreasonably, resulting in your economic and non-economic damages.

To prove that the person acted negligently, you must demonstrate the following:

- The person owed you a duty of care. This means the person was legally obligated to behave or act in a way that would prevent harm.

- The person breached that duty. You must show that the person failed to act in a manner that would have prevented harm.

- The person’s negligence directly caused your injuries. This means linking the person’s actions to the accident and your subsequent injuries.

- You suffered damages (economic and non-economic) as a result.

What Are Non-Economic Damages?

Simply put, non-economic damages refer to the non-financial aspects of your injury. It has nothing to do with your damaged car or the medical bills. Instead, non-economic damages relate to the emotional and psychological toll the accident and injury has taken on your life.

 
Thus, compensation for non-economic damages must cover:

 
- Pain and suffering. This means anything from chronic pain to discomfort after an injury.
- Emotional distress. If you experience PTSD, depression, or anxiety after the accident and resulting injury, it also counts as non-economic damages.
- Loss of enjoyment of life. If your injury prevents you from participating in activities or hobbies you used to enjoy, you should also be compensated.
- Loss of consortium. If your injury hurts your relationship with your spouse, you can also claim for loss of consortium.

As mentioned, it is difficult to put a cost to non-economic damages, but this does not mean they are any less real than economic damages. For instance, if an accident causes you to suffer a severe spinal cord injury, you will face a mountain of medical bills.

 
In addition to these economic damages, you will also have to deal with physical pain and loss of mobility (non-economic damages). In this instance, both damages are critical when establishing the full extent of your harm.

Why You Must Document Non-Economic Damages

You must prove it when you suffer non-economic damages to file a compensation case. Non-economic damages will always be more subjective, and without documentation, you will find it hard to prove how much you are suffering.

 
If you document your suffering, you can show how much your injuries have affected every aspect of your life. This evidence will support your claim that you deserve compensation over and above a settlement for economic damages.

 
Documenting your non-economic damages also helps to quantify your claim. This means you give the court and insurance company a base to work from when they use formulas to estimate a compensation payout.
When you have complete documentation, you also make it easier for your lawyer to argue for higher compensation.

 
Moreover, detailed documentation on how your injuries affected your life makes your case more credible. An insurance company or a court will never act on unsubstantiated claims, especially regarding non-economic damages.

Documenting Non-Economic Damages in a Personal Injury Case

The easiest way to document non-economic damages is to keep a pain journal or diary. This is essentially a personal record where you describe your daily pain levels and emotional state. You should also record things you struggle to do that used to come easy before. This includes anything from cooking and cleaning to walking down the stairs.

 
When you describe your pain levels, be sure to go into detail about how bad it is and where the pain is located. Your medical records will back this up. Writing down how the ongoing pain makes you feel is also crucial. You may experience feelings of frustration, anger, anxiety, or even depression.

 
Furthermore, you should get testimonies from family members, friends, and co-workers. They can also testify how your mood or behavior has changed since you were injured. It is vital to get an outside perspective to support your claims.

 
Getting back to medical records, you can also use these to provide evidence of emotional distress. For instance, your doctor may prescribe medication for anxiety or refer you to a counselor or therapist for your PTSD.

 
Remember to keep photos and videos taken after your accident so your lawyer can present them to the insurance company. This footage would typically be of visible injuries on your body after the accident. This will also document the accident and how you were injured.

How New York Courts Handle Non-Economic Damages

If your case goes to court (not settled by the insurance company), there is no cap on how much compensation you can seek for non-economic damages. However, keep in mind that damage calculations are usually subjective.

Courts typically use the multiplier or per diem method to calculate compensation. The multiplier method takes the total amount of economic damages and multiplies it by a number between 1.5 and 5 (to calculate non-economic damages.

 
The per diem method assigns a daily value to your pain and suffering, multiplied by the number of days you have been affected.

Consulting a Personal Injury Lawyer

If you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence, consult a personal injury lawyer to help you start the documenting process. Your lawyer will help you understand the extent of the damages you can claim and guide you through the legal process.