If you have been involved in an accident and have a personal … Before you start calculating your damages, it's important to remember that pain and suffering damages must be supported by evidence. The common law of contract draws a distinction between general and special damages suffered. Special damages are typically easy to calculate. 3. When the jury allows an award of special damages it is providing compensation for expenses you have incurred or will incur and for money lost because of the accident and injuries. These include costs to repair or replace damaged property, lost wages, sick or vacation time you used during your recovery, and any other out-of-pocket expenses you incurred because of the injury. Punitive damages usually accompany general and special damages. Punitive damages are normally used as punishment against companies or individuals who are proven to be at fault for an incident of extreme negligence. How to Calculate Pain and Suffering Damages. After you enter your numbers and click "Calculate," the two dollar figures you see above the "Your Total Settlement Estimate" field represent the two main types of damages that arise in the majority of injury cases: economic losses (called “special” damages) and non-economic losses (called “general” damages). If a personal injury claim was always as simple as only having special damages, things would be more clear cut. Special Damages. Evidence of Pain and Suffering. To calculate your damages, you must be able to document the terms of the contract, what went wrong in the contract, and how you lost time or money because of the problem. So, your total estimate of damages, including pain and suffering, would be: $10,000 (special damages) x 5.0 (multiplier) = $50,000. Decide what the fair market value is for the items that you have lost. In other words, figure out how much would it cost you if you had to replace the items that you lost, in the same condition that they were in at the time of your loss. Since these types of economic damages can be easily calculated (i.e exact amount of medical bills or exactly how much time missed from work multiplied by wage), they are often the easier to obtain damages. Actual or Special Damages Actual or special damages are compensatory damages. General Damages . General damages are damages considered to flow naturally and generally from a breach in the normal course of events and are recoverable without a need to prove anything more. Unlike general damages, calculating special damages is much more straightforward because it is based on actual expenses. Punitive Damages. Calculating Damages: The Difference between Special and General Damages At McMullin Legal Group, we help our clients get the maximum compensation available to them after an accident. 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