Updated June 17, 2026
Put a number on the non-economic side
The multiplier and per-diem methods, run side by side on your figures.
Economic damages are the financial losses your injury caused, verifiable with bills, pay stubs, and receipts. Non-economic damages compensate for pain, suffering, emotional distress, and lost quality of life, none of which comes with documentation. Both categories belong in a personal injury claim. Both are negotiated, and they are negotiated differently.
What counts as economic damages
Economic damages, also called special damages, cover past and future medical expenses, lost wages from missed work, lost future earning capacity in permanent injury cases, property damage, and out-of-pocket costs such as transportation to appointments or required home modifications. The ceiling is whatever you can document with a bill, a record, or a receipt.
What counts as non-economic damages
Non-economic damages, also called general damages, cover physical pain and suffering, emotional distress and anxiety, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement or permanent scarring, loss of consortium, and the general inconvenience of living with an injury. None come with a receipt. That makes them harder to quantify and, not coincidentally, the first place adjusters push back.
How non-economic damages are valued
Two methods dominate negotiations. The multiplier method applies a severity factor of 1.5 to 5 to your medical bills. The per-diem method assigns a daily dollar value for suffering and multiplies by recovery days. Neither is legally required. Both are negotiation anchors, not outcomes. When cases go to trial, juries set non-economic awards from the evidence, not from a formula. The pain and suffering calculator applies both methods to your specific figures.
Are non-economic damages capped?
Some states cap non-economic damages by statute. Medical malpractice is the most common context, though a handful of states apply caps to personal injury cases more broadly. A statutory cap sets an absolute ceiling on what a jury can award, regardless of how severe the injury is. Rules vary by state and can significantly affect settlement value. See comparative negligence rules for the other limit that reduces total recovery.
Which damages matter more in practice?
In serious cases, non-economic damages often dwarf the economic total. A claimant with $50,000 in medical bills and a permanent disability can credibly claim $150,000 to $250,000 or more in non-economic damages. In minor cases, the non-economic figure may be only marginally above the bills. The ratio depends on severity, permanence, and how concretely the injury has changed the claimant's daily life.
Put a number on the non-economic side
The multiplier and per-diem methods, run side by side on your figures.