There’s no doubt that people in accidents also experience pain and suffering as a result of their injuries. In most standard vehicle cases, it’s easy because you’re working through your insurance provider. There’s this idea that your insurance provider will be looking out for you and your best interest. Although that’s not entirely true, there is some element to it that at least your insurance provider would consider the pain and suffering associated with the crash.
But after an accident in an Uber or a Lyft, will those companies consider the damages that aren’t found in diagnostic testing? What will rideshare companies provide to help you overcome that pain and suffering? These are excellent questions, and today we’ll be looking at some factors that can help answer them.
How Do People Calculate Pain and Suffering?
When you’re working with attorneys and finance professionals, it’s surprising the methods for calculating damages can be quite surprising. There are a handful of methods that people used to calculate pain and suffering damages for a crash, and it’s unclear which is the best option. Most attorneys will evaluate the different methods for calculating the pain and suffering on a case-by-case basis rather than using one method every time.
First, there’s the daily rate option that some attorneys use. This method prescribes a daily rate to your pain. For example, if you lost $120 in wages each day, that would be the starting point. Then, you would add in the $200 for suffering from not being able to do everyday things like get out of the house or move around. You might add in an additional $20 per day for having to pay for additional services such as grocery delivery and ridesharing. Then that per day figure would be multiplied by the amount of time passed.
The second option is to calculate based on a multiplier. This method uses the ‘actual’ damages or damages with a clear figure (medical and property damage) then multiplies that damage by a number to reasonably assess damages. For example, if your ‘actual’ damages were $10,000 then the attorney may multiply it by 3 to accommodate for your pain and suffering too.
Insurance companies do give some push back over either method. They want to assess pain and suffering the way that their appraiser puts a value on property damage. However, that’s simply not possible. There have been enough claims through Uber and Lyft now, however, to know that there’s typically less push back from these companies than others.
What Does Uber Claim to Cover?
Uber claims that they can provide up to $1 million in coverage for each crash. However, that doesn’t cover every single ride or situation. The driver and passenger must have the app open, and the driver must have clearly accepted the ride. When those certain conditions are met, then Uber offers different coverage in different situations.
For example, if you were the Uber driver and on your way to pick up a passenger but they were not in the car the coverage ends at $50,000. However, when there’s a passenger in the car, the policy can cover up to $1 million for third-party liability, as well as uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.
Uber does not explain how they handle claims that involve pain and suffering. But they do provide clear information on their different factors of coverage. At this point, it comes down to Georgia assessing pain and suffering accompanying injuries. The state of Georgia has a wide stance which essentially says that if there was an injury, then there is likely pain and suffering.
How Atlanta Car Accident Attorneys Compile a Claim
The typical approach for attorneys is to focus on the medical damages, then the property damages, and finally the pain and suffering. It’s possible that the attorney will use the multiplier method so they must have clear damage figures for medical and property damages. However, there may be clearer factors in assessing your pain and suffering.
For those who are in continued pain, lost opportunities at work because of the missed time, or even found they lost a treasured hobby, consider pain and suffering. This factor of your claim often allows for compensation to truly include everything you’ve experienced because of a ride that should have been safe. At the Weinstein Firm in Atlanta, we’ve worked closely with accident victims for years, but in recent years we’ve handled a number of Uber and Lyft crashes as well.
