Personal Injury Guide to Pain and Suffering in Michigan

Key Takeaways:

• You can recover damages for pain and suffering after a personal injury.
• You must file a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver to recover pain and suffering.
• The statute of limitations for a personal injury claim in Michigan is three years.
• To recover non-economic damages like pain and suffering in Michigan, you must meet the bodily injury threshold.
• Your pain and suffering award will be reduced based on how at fault you are for the accident.

If you have recently been involved in an accident, you may have found that Michigan insurance laws are not very straightforward. Michigan’s no-fault law, while intended to help accident victims recover compensation for their injuries, can be quite confusing. Even once you understand how the no-fault law works, you might still wonder if you can sue the other driver.

You might need to file a lawsuit to recover certain damages, including compensation for pain and suffering. The injury lawyers at Matz Injury Law are here to help you understand the laws surrounding pain and suffering and get compensation for your losses.

What is Pain and Suffering?

Pain and suffering damages are non-economic damages that compensate you for the reduced quality of life due to your injuries.

Car accidents, dog bites, medical malpractice, and other personal injury incidents can affect your well-being long after you have received medical treatment.

Pain and suffering damages address problems like lingering physical pain, emotional distress, PTSD, loss of enjoyment of life, etc.

Different Types of Pain and Suffering In Michigan

Several conditions that can result from injuries sustained due to another person’s negligence can be classified as pain and suffering in Michigan.

• Denial of social pleasure and enjoyment: You might be in too much physical pain or find that a hobby or other activity you once enjoyed now triggers a traumatic response, meaning you cannot participate in or enjoy activities as you did before your injuries.
• Embarrassment, humiliation, or mortification: Accident injuries can cause profound feelings of shame or embarrassment. This can prevent you from returning to a normal life.
• Fright and shock: You may develop symptoms of emotional trauma such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after an accident.
• Mental anguish: Feelings of depression, anxiety, fear, and anger after an accident can be overwhelming. Your emotional pain may interfere with or even prevent your recovery.
• Physical pain and suffering: Injuries can have physical effects that persist long after the accident and even long after treatment and rehabilitation, including headaches and neck, back, joint, or muscle pain.

How Much Can You Sue for Pain and Suffering in Michigan?

Michigan state law has no legal limit on how much compensation you can receive for your pain-and-suffering claim. No-fault insurance coverage only compensates for medical bills and other economic damages. To recover damages for pain and suffering and other non-economic losses, you must file a claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company, and it might be necessary to file a lawsuit.

Bodily Injury vs. Pain and Suffering

In Michigan, bodily injury liability coverage compensates victims if the policy owner is found legally responsible for damages, known as “tort liability.” This can help the victim cover their pain and suffering as well as their medical expenses, lost wages, and other economic damages following an accident. To recover compensation for pain and suffering, you need to meet Michigan’s legal requirements for tort liability, which means the accident caused death, serious impairment of bodily function, or permanent serious disfigurement.

If you qualify under these conditions, you can file a claim with the at-fault party’s bodily injury insurance to seek compensation for pain and suffering. Consulting an experienced Michigan car accident attorney at Matz Injury Law can help you receive fair compensation for both economic and non-economic damages.

What is the Fair Price of Pain and Suffering?

Michigan’s no-fault law allows fault-based claims for non-economic damages in accident cases involving “death, serious impairment of body function, or permanent serious disfigurement.”

If you meet this threshold injury requirement, the amount that you can recover for pain and suffering in Michigan depends on numerous factors, including:

• The severity of your injuries
• The length of time they are likely to affect you
• Whether or not you can reach a settlement agreement

How to Prove Pain and Suffering in Michigan Car Accident

Before presenting evidence of your pain and suffering in an insurance claim or lawsuit, you must establish that the defendant is liable for your injuries. You have to prove the following four points to establish negligence:

1. The defendant owed a duty of care to obey traffic laws and operate their vehicle safely.
2. The defendant breached their duty of care.
3. This breach caused your injuries.
4. You suffered damages because of your injuries.

Michigan has additional requirements for car accident claims that seek non-economic damages. You must meet a “bodily injury threshold,” also known as the “tort threshold,” to claim pain and suffering damages. In cases that do not allege wrongful death, Michigan law requires proof of “serious impairment of body function” or “permanent serious disfigurement.”

State law defines “serious impairment of body function” in three parts:

• It must be “objectively manifested,” meaning someone other than the injury victim can observe the symptoms.
• The impaired bodily function must be “of great value, significance, or consequence to the injured person.”
• The impairment must affect “the person’s capacity to live in his or her normal manner of living.”

The law does not require the impairment to have any specific duration.
Evidence of your emotional and physical injuries and their impact on your well-being may include:

• Medical records
• Testimony from doctors and other witnesses
• A journal recording your pain and how it prevents you from living your normal life

Pain And Suffering Settlement Examples in Michigan

These examples illustrate how various factors, such as the degree of fault, the severity of the injury, and adherence to legal deadlines, play critical roles in determining eligibility and the amount of pain and suffering compensation in Michigan personal injury cases.

Example One:

Partial Fault: Suppose Alex is involved in a car accident where both drivers are partially responsible. In Michigan, if Alex is found to be less than 50% at fault for the accident, he can still recover pain and suffering damages, but the award would be reduced proportionally by his percentage of fault. For example, if he were found to be 30% at fault and the pain and suffering damages awarded were $100,000, his final recovery would be $70,000.

Example Two:

Serious Injury Threshold: Jordan suffered a severe injury in a car crash caused by another driver running a red light. Under Michigan law, Jordan must demonstrate that his injury constitutes a “serious impairment of body function“ to recover pain and suffering damages. This means showing that the injury has significantly impacted his life, such as his ability to walk or perform daily activities. If successful, he could recover damages for the physical pain and the emotional distress caused by his reduced mobility.

Example Three:

Statute of Limitations: Mia was injured in a slip-and-fall accident but waited almost three years before deciding to take legal action. In Michigan, the statute of limitations for personal injury claims is three years, so she must file her lawsuit before this deadline. If she files even one day late, she risks losing her right to claim pain and suffering damages entirely.

Example Four:

Bodily Injury Threshold: Carlos is involved in a minor car accident and suffers a back injury that heals within a few weeks. In Michigan, his injury might not meet the “serious impairment of body function” threshold required to claim pain and suffering damages. He would need to prove that the injury significantly impacted his normal life to recover these damages.

Example Five:

Delayed Medical Treatment: Emma gets injured but does not initially seek medical treatment because the symptoms are not severe. Over time, her condition worsens, leading to substantial pain and suffering. In her lawsuit, the delay could be used by the defense to argue that her injuries were not as severe as claimed or that they were not caused by the accident. They may be able to reduce or even dismiss the claim.

Matz Injury Law: Examples of Successful Personal Injury Settlements

Some of our recent settlements include:

• $1.74 million settlement against a 19-year-old driver and the fraternity where he was drinking immediately prior to a head-on collision that killed a 52-year-old husband and father of three children
  • The client kept an additional $197,142 with Matz Injury Law’s “22, not 33” promise.
• $3.45 million settlement against a cement company whose truck crossed a center line, causing three deaths and severely injuring a 4-year-old boy, $450,000 in excess of available insurance
  • The client kept an additional $390,000 with Matz Injury Law’s “22, not 33” promise.
• $1.3 million settlement on behalf of a mother and daughter in a car/truck collision
  • The client kept an additional $147,200 with Matz Injury Law’s “22, not 33” promise.

Learn more about Matz Injury Law’s “22, not 33” promise.

Why Choose Matz Injury Law?

• Most law firms charge the legal maximum 33 1/3% of your settlement. At Matz, we only charge 22%. You keep more money with Matz.
• We travel all across Michigan to help our clients. We have driven hundreds of miles to provide compassionate, dedicated representation for those who need it.
• We have decades of experience helping accident victims. We know Michigan law, we know the courts, and we know how to fight for you.
• When you work with Matz Injury Law, you always work with a partner. Our family is in the business of helping your family.
• We have won over $300 million in awards and settlements for our clients.

Testimonials

Hear what one of our clients had to say about their Matz Injury Law experience.

“My family is grateful for Steve Matz’s professional handling of our case. Steve was very thorough, candid, responsive, and strategic in his approach throughout our legal proceedings. If ever in a situation again like my family has experienced over the past year, we would immediately retain Matz Injury Law to represent our interests. Thank you Steve.” – John P.

Claim What’s Yours. We Stand by You.

Ready to discuss your case? Call 866-226-6833 or complete our online contact form to schedule a free consultation with the personal injury lawyers at Matz Injury Law.