What Are Non-Economic Damages?

Non-economic damages are monetary awards that compensate you for subjective, nonmonetary losses tied to an injury, including pain, suffering, and emotional distress. These losses often represent the most significant impact an injury has on your daily life and long-term well-being.

How Are Non-Economic Damages Different From Economic Damages?

Economic damages cover the measurable financial losses from an injury, like medical bills, lost wages, repair costs, and similar out-of-pocket expenses supported by a paper trail. Non-economic damages address the human cost: the pain, emotional harm, and life disruption that do not come with a receipt but are just as real.

Both types can be pursued in a single Washington claim, and together they represent the full picture of what an injury actually takes from you.

Types of Non-Economic Damages

Washington had long defined non-economic damages under RCW 4.56.250 as subjective, nonmonetary losses including pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, disability or disfigurement, emotional distress, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium, injury to reputation, humiliation, and destruction of the parent-child relationship. That statute also imposed caps on these damages, but those caps were struck down as unconstitutional by the Washington Supreme Court in Sofie v. Fibreboard Corp., 112 Wn.2d 636 (1989). The statute was formally repealed in 2023.

The caps are gone, but the definition still influenced how Washington courts continue to recognize these losses. Common categories include the following:

• Pain and suffering: Physical discomfort caused by the injury itself and any treatment required in its wake.
• Inconvenience: Disruption to daily routines, obligations, and activities caused by the injury and recovery process.
• Mental anguish: Anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and other psychological consequences traceable to the incident.
• Emotional distress: Broader emotional harm beyond mental anguish, including fear, grief, and loss of a sense of safety or normalcy.
• Disability or disfigurement: Permanent physical limitations or visible changes to your body that affect function, self-image, and social interaction.
• Loss of society and companionship: Harm to relationships with family members and close others, including the loss of their presence and support in your daily life.
• Loss of consortium: Damage to the marital relationship, including companionship, affection, and intimacy between spouses.
• Injury to reputation and humiliation: Harm to how others perceive you as a result of the injury, including embarrassment tied to visible impairment or changed circumstances.
• Destruction of the parent-child relationship: Severe disruption or permanent harm to the bond between a parent and child caused by the injury.

Many serious cases involving traumatic injuries also involve both physical and emotional fallout. Surviving family members may also pursue similar damages through a wrongful death claim when negligence takes a loved one’s life.

How Are Non-Economic Damages Calculated?

Insurance adjusters and juries typically apply one of two methods: the multiplier method or the per diem method. The multiplier method multiplies total economic damages by a factor, typically between 1.5 and 5, based on the severity and duration of the injury. The per diem method assigns a daily dollar value to the pain and suffering, then multiplies it by the number of days the victim is expected to experience those effects.

Evidence such as medical records, therapist notes, journal entries, and testimony from family members helps a jury understand the full weight of what you carry.

Speak With a Seattle Personal Injury Attorney

Our lawyers at Dean Standish Perkins & Associates are ready to evaluate your case during a free consultation. Call 206-467-0701 or contact us online today to discuss your case.