The Most Important Question: What Is Your Pain Worth?
After a serious injury, the medical bills are overwhelming. But the bills are only half the story. The real damage, the part that truly changes your life, doesn't come with a price tag. It's the sleepless nights. It's the anxiety of getting behind the wheel of a car. It's the chronic back pain that never goes away, or the fact that you can no longer pick up your child or enjoy a round of golf.
This is what the law calls "pain and suffering." And in Michigan, you have the right to demand compensation for it. But this is also the most confusing part of personal injury law, because the rules are very different depending on how you were injured. For victims of **Michigan auto accidents**, there is a major legal hurdle you must overcome.
Economic vs. Non-Economic Damages: What’s the Difference?
First, it's helpful to know the two main types of compensation. Economic damages are the things we can add up with a calculator: medical bills (past and future), lost wages from missed work, and your "loss of earning capacity" if you can't do your old job. Your Michigan No-Fault (PIP) insurance typically covers most of these in a car accident.
Non-economic damages are what we're talking about today. This is the legal term for "pain and suffering." It's compensation for the human cost of your injury, which can include:
- Physical pain and discomfort
- Mental anguish and emotional distress
- Anxiety, depression, or PTSD
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Scarring, disfigurement, or disability
- Loss of companionship or consortium
This is the compensation you must fight for, and it's the part the insurance companies will fight the hardest to avoid paying.
The Big Hurdle: The Michigan No-Fault "Threshold" for Car Accidents
This is the most critical rule to understand about **suing for pain and suffering in Michigan**. Because we are a "No-Fault" state, the system is designed to have your *own* insurance (your PIP benefits) pay for your economic damages, regardless of who was at fault. In exchange for this, you cannot sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering *unless* your injury is "serious enough" to meet a legal threshold.
To have a valid case, you must be able to prove that your injury resulted in one of these three things:
- Permanent Serious Disfigurement (such as significant scarring, burns, or an amputation).
- Death (which would lead to a wrongful death claim by the family).
- A "Serious Impairment of Body Function."
Most cases live or die by that third definition. This is where the legal battles are fought.
What Is a "Serious Impairment of Body Function"?
The law in Michigan defines this as an injury that affects your "general ability to lead your normal life." This is a vague phrase, and insurance companies use that vagueness to deny claims every single day. They will argue that your injury isn't "serious" enough or that you've recovered, even if you are still in daily pain.
To win this argument, we have to show that your injury had a real, negative effect on your life. A broken leg that heals perfectly in six weeks might not meet the threshold. But a back injury (like a herniated disc) that forces you to quit your construction job, stops you from coaching your kid's baseball team, and causes daily pain? That is a classic example of a "serious impairment."
What About Slip & Falls, Dog Bites, and Other Cases?
This is a crucial point: The "serious impairment" threshold only applies to auto accidents.
If you are injured in a different type of accident, the rules are simpler. If you suffer a **slip and fall** in a grocery store because they failed to clean a spill, or you are bitten by a neighbor's dog, you do *not* have to meet this high threshold. In those cases, you can claim compensation for pain and suffering from the very beginning, as long as we can prove the other party's negligence caused your injury.
How Do You Prove Pain and Suffering?
You can't just walk into court and say, "I'm in a lot of pain." You must provide evidence. An experienced personal injury lawyer builds this part of your case from day one. We use evidence like:
- Medical Records: Every time you tell your doctor about your pain, your limitations, or your anxiety, it gets documented.
- Doctor's Testimony: We work with your doctors to get a medical opinion on how your injuries limit you now and how they will in the future.
- A Personal Journal: We often advise clients to keep a simple, daily journal. It's powerful evidence to show how many "bad days" you have, what you *couldn't* do, and how you felt.
- Testimony from Friends & Family: Your spouse, friends, and co-workers can explain the person you were before the accident and the person you are now.
Don't Let an Adjuster Define Your Pain
Whether it's arguing that you don't meet the "threshold" in a car accident case or just saying your pain isn't worth much in a slip and fall, the insurance company's goal is to minimize your suffering. They will try to get you to sign a quick, lowball settlement before you even know how bad your injury is.
At Shiraz Law Firm, we know the **Michigan laws on pain and suffering** inside and out. We know how to build a case that proves your pain is real and that you deserve to be compensated for it. You’ve been through enough. Let us handle the fight.
