The value of pain and suffering goes beyond economic damages. It takes into consideration how your injuries will affect your life. You may not only suffer from actual physical pain now and into the future, but your injuries may reduce your quality of life, require you to change careers, prevent you from doing the activities you used to enjoy, or even reduce your life expectancy.   A pain and suffering claim may also take into account how the injuries affect you emotionally. Permanent scarring, for instance, or paralysis can take a high toll on your mental and emotional health.   Though there is no hard and fast rule for how insurance companies may calculate pain and suffering, they typically use the following formulas: Portion of medical expenses: Insurance adjusters may multiply your economic damages (medical bills and loss of income) by a certain number, generally between 1 and 5 depending on the severity of the injuries. For example, if your economic bills total $10,000, your pain and suffering offer may be $10,000 to $50,000. Per diem approach: Under this method, a certain amount is assigned to every day from the day of the accident until the day the plaintiff reached maximum recovery. So if the amount is $100 and it took 30 days for the plaintiff to recover, the pain and suffering amount would be $3,000. Other: Insurance companies may use other methods to calculate pain and suffering, including computer programs designed to base the amount on the type of injury and the type of medical treatment applied and the companies own data and experience with similar cases. Your car accident attorney can help you determine whether the insurance company’s offer for pain and suffering is fair, or if you should ask for more.