How are Pain and Suffering Damages Calculated in Georgia?

Many personal injury lawsuits come with a history of heartache. Whether you are dealing with a loss of quality of life, the pain from losing a loved one, or facing a reality of chronic pain in your future: pain and suffering is real. The pain and suffering that you can endure after a personal injury is real, and it is often accounted for in settlements and judgments for personal injury cases.

Understanding how pain and suffering is defined and how it is compensated for can be nuanced and confusing. Georgia is unique from many states in that it does not place a cap on pain and suffering damages. This means that an award for pain and suffering could be a thousand dollars, or hundreds of thousands of dollars in some (catastrophic) cases.

An experienced attorney can help guide you through the valuation of your own case. This article will introduce some of the basic concepts behind pain and suffering as a legal claim. This includes how it is defined, as well as various methods that might be utilized to calculate the appropriate amount of pain and damages to award in different cases. For specific advice tailored to your circumstances and your needs, seek trusted legal counsel and official advice from an experienced personal injury attorney at the Forsythe Law Firm.

What Is Pain and Suffering?

Pain and suffering as a legal claim can refer to a very broad category of damages. This might include physical pain and mental anguish due to the defendant’s actions. Generally, the more severe a plaintiff’s injuries are, the higher a pain and suffering award will be.

For example: let’s say that Pam slips and falls in a department store. She suffers a bruised hip and has pain and difficulty moving for a few months. Let’s compare that to Greta, who slips and falls in the same department store, but she is elderly and breaks her hip. As a result, she has to undergo multiple reconstructive surgeries, is in pain for months, can no longer move independently, and had to move in with her daughter in order to receive care. It only makes sense that the potential award for Greta would be higher than what Pam might receive. They suffered from the same circumstances that caused the accident, but Greta suffered far more than Pam.

What Category of Damages is Pain and Suffering?

Pain and suffering damages are general, non-economic damages. There is not a quantifiable number, or way to calculate a number, for most pain and suffering claims. This makes an award subjective and tricky to calculate.

How are Pain and Suffering Damages Calculated in Georgia?

There are generally two methods used to reach a value for pain and suffering damages: the multiplier method, and the per diem method.

Insurance companies often use the multiplier method. In this method, a value will be assigned to your general damages and a specific multiplier used, usually ranging from one to five. A “one” will mean that the case involves minor injuries that resolve quickly. A five denotes catastrophic injuries. Your economic damages will be multiplied by the assigned number to reach a value for pain and suffering damages.

In the per diem method, a dollar amount is assigned for every day the victim had pain or underwent treatment. This number will usually refer back to the average of what the victim was earning prior to their accident.

Contact The Forsythe Law Firm

There are many additional factors that can impact your potential pain and suffering damages award. An Atlanta personal injury attorney at the Forsythe Law Firm can help you assess your case and represent your interests to the fullest. Contact our office today to begin speaking with our team.

Sources:

repairerdrivennews.com/2025/04/29/gov-kemp-legislative-leaders-say-new-georgia-laws-will-stabilize-insurance-costs-for-businesses-and-consumers/

blog.cvn.com/100m-potentially-at-stake-as-damages-trial-opens-over-fatal-georgia-crash