How to Get Insurance to Pay for Pain and Suffering

Insurance can pay for pain and suffering after a New Mexico injury, usually through the at-fault driver’s bodily injury liability coverage. If that coverage is missing or too small, your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may apply. Here is how to get insurance to pay for pain and suffering, and what shapes the amount.

What Pain and Suffering Means in a New Mexico Injury Claim

Pain and suffering is a non-economic damages category. It covers losses that never show up on a bill or a pay stub.

Economic losses are costs you can add up, like medical bills and lost wages. Pain and suffering covers the rest: physical pain, emotional distress, anxiety, and loss of enjoyment of life. If you can no longer sleep through the night or play with your kids, that loss is real, even without a receipt.

These claims come up after car crashes, truck crashes, and other serious injuries. Catastrophic injuries such as spinal cord injuries, amputations, and burns often involve long recovery and lasting limits. Because those losses are hard to measure on paper, they are harder to value than medical bills. For an overview of these cases, read catastrophic injury claims in New Mexico.

Does Bodily Injury Coverage Pay for Pain and Suffering?

Yes, bodily injury liability coverage can pay pain and suffering damages that the at-fault driver is legally responsible for. It is usually the first place to look after a crash caused by another driver.

Under NMSA 1978 § 66-5-301, a motor vehicle liability policy delivered or issued for delivery in New Mexico for a vehicle registered or principally garaged in New Mexico must include uninsured motorist coverage, in or supplemental to the policy, for insureds legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles. That uninsured motorist coverage must be at least the minimum limits for bodily injury or death and for property damage set in § 66-5-215, and may be at higher limits the insured wants, up to the limits in the policy’s bodily injury and property damage liability provisions. Under New Mexico law, the named insured has the right to reject uninsured motorist coverage, which includes underinsured motorist coverage, and if the named insured rejected that coverage on a policy previously issued by the same insurer, it need not be provided in a renewal policy unless the named insured requests it in writing (§ 66-5-301). Those limits matter. Each policy has a per-person amount and a per-accident amount. The policy limit caps what that policy pays, even when losses are larger.

Under the Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act, ‘evidence of financial responsibility’ means evidence of the ability to respond in damages for liability, on account of accidents occurring after the evidence takes effect, arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of a vehicle of a type subject to registration under New Mexico law, in amounts of $25,000 because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident, $50,000 because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident (subject to the one-person limit), and $10,000 because of injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident; if the evidence is in the form of a surety bond or a cash deposit, the total amount shall be $60,000 (NMSA § 66-5-208). A serious injury can exceed those figures. New Mexico also makes it a misdemeanor to drive an uninsured motor vehicle, or a motor vehicle for which evidence of financial responsibility is not currently valid, on New Mexico streets or highways unless the driver is specifically exempt; a person charged with this offense shall not be convicted if they produce in court evidence of financial responsibility valid at the time of issuance of the citation (NMSA 1978 § 66-5-205).

How much a policy pays depends on its limits, the injuries, and who is found at fault.

When Your Own Insurance May Cover Pain and Suffering

Your own uninsured motorist (UM) or underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage can apply when the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough. UM coverage protects you when a driver who is legally responsible has no coverage at all.

An underinsured motorist is a driver whose total bodily injury liability limits are less than your UM limits. Check your declarations page to see whether you carry UM/UIM coverage and at what limits.

Rejecting this coverage has a strict rule. Check your paperwork for that signed rejection.

UM and UIM claims go to your own insurer, which can change what records you need. Deadlines apply to these claims too. The time limit guide covers those rules.

How Insurers Value Pain and Suffering

Insurers look at how serious and lasting the injury is, how long treatment lasts, and how the injury affects daily life. No two claims are valued the same way.

They usually start with medical records and bills. They also check whether treatment was steady and whether the injury is permanent or ongoing. A daily journal, notes from family or coworkers, and photos can show how your routine changed. Those details fill in what a chart cannot show.

Fault matters too. New Mexico uses comparative negligence (shared fault). Under the state’s jury instruction, which is used only when comparative negligence is an issue and the court submits the case on a general verdict without special interrogatories, and only in cases where there is no apportionment of negligence among defendants or non-parties, the jury totals your damages, assigns fault percentages that add to 100%, and then reduces your damages by your own percentage (UJI 13-2218 NMRA).

Each claim is valued on its own facts. No one can give a reliable number before the evidence is complete. An early offer may not reflect how recovery goes over time.

Documenting Pain, Stress, and Anxiety After an Accident

Steady medical follow-up and a written record make your claim easier to document. Start both right away.

Report the crash, too. New Mexico law provides that the driver of a vehicle, or the autonomous motor vehicle operator or autonomous commercial motor vehicle operator, if applicable, involved in an accident resulting in bodily injury to or death of any person, or property damage to an apparent extent of $500 or more, shall immediately, by the quickest means of communication, give notice of the accident to the police department if the accident occurs within a municipality, or otherwise to the office of the county sheriff or the nearest office of the New Mexico state police; for an autonomous vehicle operating without a human driver, the owner of the vehicle or a person working on the owner’s behalf is responsible for giving that notice (NMSA § 66-7-206).

Keep every appointment you can. Insurers may question how serious an injury was if treatment has gaps. If you are still in treatment, say so.

Track your days in a simple log. Note pain levels, sleep, activities that have become hard, and emotional effects such as nightmares or fear of driving. Stress and anxiety are easier to support when they appear in your provider’s records, so tell your doctor about them.

Keep photos, property damage records, bills, letters, and claim numbers in one folder.

Talking to the Insurance Adjuster: What to Keep in Mind

An adjuster works for the insurance company, so keep answers short, factual, and accurate. Don’t guess.

Common mistakes include saying you feel fine when you are still in treatment, estimating speed or distance, or agreeing to a recorded statement before you understand the claim. Confirm dates and treatment only. Ask for requests in writing before you give a recorded statement or sign a release.

You can ask the adjuster to explain any valuation in writing.

You don’t have to accept a first offer right away. New Mexico’s Rule 11-408 NMRA generally keeps offers made to settle a claim out of evidence when offered to prove that claim’s validity or amount.

When a Claim Moves Toward a Lawsuit and Negotiation

Many claims settle through negotiation. Some need a lawsuit when the two sides cannot agree on value.

Negotiation involves the demand, the offer, and the supporting records. A lawsuit adds filing deadlines, court rules, and formal evidence gathering. These steps can take longer when the injury is catastrophic.

Timing rules can affect claims against insurers.

A lawyer can help with negotiation, records, and filings. No one can promise how a case will end. Every case is different, and results in other cases do not predict yours.

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