What Are Non-Economic Damages in Pennsylvania?

Accidents in Pennsylvania often leave victims reeling from the costs of medical bills, lost wages, and any property damage they face. On top of compensation for these economic losses, you may be able to recover non-economic damages.

Non-economic damages are any damages that aren’t financial. This separates them from “economic” damages. Non-economic damages include things like pain and suffering or reduced quality of life. Juries often award non-economic damages for things like emotional distress and mental anguish, too.

For a free case review with our Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers, call The Reiff Law Firm now at (215) 709-6940.

How Does Pennsylvania Define Non-Economic Damages?

Non-economic damages cover the non-financial losses victims incur because of injuries. For example, a broken bone comes with physical pain and emotional turmoil on top of the financial expenses that are necessary to treat your injury, such as a cast and potential time away from work.

Another way to define non-economic damages is that they are “general damages” that occur in any injury case. Injuries always hurt, and you should always be paid something for having those injuries. Other economic damages for your specific costs are “special damages.”

Are Non-Economic Damages Capped in Pennsylvania?

Generally speaking, Pennsylvania does not cap victims’ damages except for claims against the government and medical malpractice claims.

Most Personal Injury Cases

For most personal injury claims, such as those involving auto accidents, slip and falls, and other similar accidents, there is no limit on non-economic damages or pain and suffering.

Government Claims

In cases against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or county/local governments, there are damage caps on both economic and non-economic damages. This part of the Tort Claims Act limits damages to $250,000 per plaintiff and $1,000,000 per incident.

Medical Malpractice

Even in medical malpractice claims, there are no caps for economic or non-economic damages in Pennsylvania.

That said, there are limits on punitive damages in medical malpractice claims at 200% of compensatory damages (economic + non-economic damages). This cap does not apply to intentional injury claims.

Proving Non-Economic Damages in a Pennsylvania Injury Claim

In an injury case, you do not need to prove you suffered or felt pain; this is assumed. However, you do need evidence of how much pain you experienced and how severe your injury was so that non-economic damages can be calculated.

Evidence

Since emotional distress does not come with a price tag, we must show that you have experienced it using different evidence than we would use to prove economic damages. For example, we need things like

• Your testimony
• Your therapists’ and doctors’ testimony
• Statements from your family and loved ones about how the injury affected you
• Assessments of your lost ability.

Severity

Most injury cases base your pain and suffering on the overall severity. This takes into account factors like

• How long will the injury affect you?
• How painful was the injury?
• How painful was the medical treatment?
• How does it affect your activities of daily living?
• Can you still participate in activities you enjoy?
• How long will the pain and life changes last?
• Did the injury completely alter your lifestyle?
• Did you face visible, disfiguring injuries like burns or scars?

Calculations

Instead of getting the monetary values from bills or receipts like we would with economic damages, we can use two calculation methods to get an amount, then adjust it as needed.

The multiplier method chooses a multiplier from 1.5 to 5 based on severity. We then multiply your economic damages by that number to get your total non-economic damages.

Alternatively, we can use the per diem method to calculate the daily cost of your pain and suffering. This is based on your daily wages, assuming it is at least as hard to be an injury victim as it is to work your normal job. Then, we adjust based on severity and multiply by the number of days you face pain and suffering.

How Are Non-Economic Damages Awarded in Pennsylvania?

When awarding non-economic damages in Pennsylvania, juries are instructed to consider several elements, such as whether or not the victim has experienced pain and suffering and how long they are expected to continue to do so following the conclusion of the claim.

According to 231 Pa. C.S. § 223.3, the four elements to consider are

1. Pain and suffering
2. Embarrassment/humiliation
3. Loss of ability/enjoyment

FAQs for Economic Damages in Pennsylvania

Are “Pain and Suffering” and “Non-Economic Damages” the Same Thing?

The terms are used basically interchangeably, but “pain and suffering” is technically only one facet of “non-economic damages.” They can also be paid to account for mental anguish, emotional distress, embarrassment, disfigurement, lost ability, and other factors.

Is “Emotional Distress” the Same as “Non-Economic Damages”?

Like with pain and suffering, emotional distress is just one possible aspect of non-economic damages. You might focus on this aspect in some injury cases, but whatever you call the damages, they are still claimed under the umbrella of “non-economic damages.”

Can You Get Pain and Suffering from Insurance?

When you file a claim against the defendant’s insurance, it should include all damages you could claim through a lawsuit. That means it should include an adequate award for pain and suffering, or else we should negotiate for a better settlement or consider taking the defendant to trial.

You cannot usually get pain and suffering through first-party insurance claims like the ones you might file in a car accident claim. However, uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance should pay pain and suffering damages.

Can You Get Pain and Suffering for a Mental Injury?

You should talk to our Pennsylvania personal injury cases if you suffer a “mental only” injury, as this severely complicates your case. In most cases, you need at least some physical injury or manifestation of a mental injury to make a claim for PTSD or emotional distress.

In the opposite case, the fact that you faced any physical harm is usually enough to prove you have some level of pain and suffering, even if the majority of your case is based around the mental/emotional effects and not the physical elements.

Do I Need a Lawyer to Get Non-Economic Damages?

You can get paid for non-economic damages like pain and suffering through an insurance claim, but settlements are likely to leave off non-economic damages if the insurance company thinks they can get away with it.

Instead, always review your damages with your lawyer and have us negotiate your settlement before accepting or signing anything from the insurance company or defendant. If you accept a settlement without non-economic damages, you cannot go back and claim non-economic damages later.

We may have to go to trial to get a fair award if the insurance company refuses to pay for your pain and suffering.

What is Loss of Consortium?

Many injury cases include damages for your spouse to cover how your injury affects them. These “loss of consortium” damages can be included as non-economic damages in your claim to cover lost intimacy, lost household services, and more.

Can You Get Non-Economic Damages in a Work Injury Claim?

Workers’ Compensation claims do not include payment for non-economic damages. However, if you did file a Workers’ Compensation claim, you may still be able to sue an outside party for damages and recover non-economic damages that way.

Call Our Pennsylvania Injury Attorneys About Your Injury Claim Today

The Montgomery County personal injury lawyers of The Reiff Law Firm can assess your case for free when you call us today at (215) 709-6940.