What Pain and Suffering Damages Cover and How They're Valued

Pain and suffering damages pay you for the physical pain and emotional harm an injury causes, beyond your bills and lost pay. No formula sets the amount. A jury or adjuster looks at how serious the injury is and how long it lasts. They also weigh how well you prove its effect on your life.

Some states cap these damages in certain cases. No-fault states such as New York and Michigan also block pain and suffering claims after a car crash unless the injury is serious enough.

What does pain and suffering cover?

It covers the harm that doesn't come with a receipt. California's jury instruction, CACI 3905A, lists the types jurors may consider:

• Physical pain
• Mental suffering, anxiety and emotional distress
• Loss of enjoyment of life, such as giving up running or playing with your kids
• Disfigurement and physical impairment
• Inconvenience, grief and humiliation

You can claim past and future harm. CACI 3905A says future pain counts only if you prove you are reasonably certain to suffer it. That usually means a doctor's opinion.

Lawyers group these with other harms as "non-economic damages." Our guide to types of damages explains how they differ from medical bills and wages.

How do juries decide the amount?

Jurors use their judgment. CACI 3905A tells California jurors that "no fixed standard exists for deciding the amount of these noneconomic damages."

In practice jurors weigh the diagnosis, the length of recovery, the number of surgeries, visible scars and whether the injury is permanent. They also judge whether you seem credible. An exaggerated story can cost more than a modest one.

Jurors don't have to discount future pain to present value. CACI's directions say that reduction applies only to economic damages.

How do insurance adjusters value it?

Adjusters start with rough methods, not rules. The most common is a multiplier, often 1.5 to 5 times your medical bills, with the number rising for surgery, fractures and permanent harm.

Another is a per diem rate: a daily amount times the days until you recover. Our guide to how settlements are calculated walks through both with numbers.

What evidence supports a pain and suffering claim?

The strongest evidence comes from people other than you, created close to the time you were hurt. Adjusters and jurors trust records more than memories.

Treatment records

Medical charts record pain scores, complaints and limits at every visit. A chart showing pain at 8 of 10 in week 1 and 5 of 10 in week 6 tells your story well.

Tell your doctor about every symptom, including sleep problems and anxiety. If it isn't in the chart, the insurer will say it didn't happen.

A pain journal

Write a few lines each day: pain level, what you couldn't do, what you missed. "Skipped my daughter's recital on May 9, couldn't sit for 2 hours" is a detail a jury remembers.

Testimony from people who know you

A spouse, coworker or friend can describe the change in you. A supervisor explaining that you went from lifting 50-pound boxes to desk duty adds weight a doctor can't.

Photos and video

Take photos of bruises, stitches and casts as they heal, with dates. Scars fade, and the jury may see you 2 years later.

Which states cap pain and suffering?

Several states cap non-economic damages, often only in medical malpractice cases. Two examples show how different the caps can be.

California (medical malpractice only)

California's MICRA cap, in Civil Code §3333.2, was rewritten by AB 35. For cases filed on or after January 1, 2023, the cap started at $350,000 for injury cases and $500,000 for death cases.

The injury cap rises $40,000 each January 1 until it reaches $750,000. The death cap rises $50,000 a year to $1,000,000. After that, both grow 2% a year starting January 1, 2034.

California has no cap on pain and suffering in car crashes, falls or other ordinary injury cases. See our California page.

Colorado (most injury cases)

Colorado caps non-economic damages in ordinary injury cases under C.R.S. §13-21-102.5. HB24-1472, signed June 3, 2024, raised the cap to $1.5 million for most claims filed on or after January 1, 2025. The old base cap was $250,000.

The same law phases Colorado's medical malpractice non-economic cap up to $875,000 over 5 years. Starting January 1, 2028, all the caps adjust for inflation every 2 years. See our Colorado page.

When does no-fault insurance block pain and suffering?

In no-fault states, your own insurance pays medical bills and lost wages after a crash. In return, you can sue for pain and suffering only if your injury passes a legal threshold.

New York

Insurance Law §5104(a) bars non-economic damages after a car crash "except in the case of a serious injury." §5102(d) defines serious injury to include:

• Death, dismemberment or significant disfigurement
• A fracture
• Loss of a fetus
• Permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system
• Permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member
• Significant limitation of use of a body function or system
• A medically determined injury that prevents you from doing substantially all your usual daily activities for 90 of the 180 days after the crash

A broken wrist clears the threshold on its own. A neck strain usually needs medical proof of a significant or permanent limitation. See our New York page.

Michigan

MCL §500.3135(1) allows a pain and suffering claim only for death, "serious impairment of body function," or permanent serious disfigurement.

A serious impairment must be objectively manifested, affect an important body function, and affect your general ability to lead your normal life. You also get nothing for pain and suffering if you were more than 50% at fault. See our Michigan page.

Florida

Fla. Stat. §627.737(2) sets a similar bar. You can claim pain and suffering after a crash only for death, a permanent injury, or significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement. Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function also qualifies.

Is pain and suffering taxable?

Usually not, if it comes from a physical injury. IRS Publication 4345 says settlements for "personal physical injuries or physical sickness" are generally non-taxable. Emotional distress damages without a physical injury are taxable.

What to do now

1. Start a pain journal today and keep it short and factual.
2. Tell every doctor about every symptom, including sleep, mood and daily limits.
3. Photograph visible injuries each week until they heal.
4. Find out whether your state caps non-economic damages for your type of case, and whether a no-fault threshold applies to your crash.
5. If you talk to a lawyer, ask how they would prove your pain and suffering. Ask what similar cases in your county have settled for.