Chronic pain claims

In plain English: chronic pain is pain that lasts beyond the normal healing time, usually defined by doctors as more than three months. After an accident, it can continue long after scans show the original injury has healed.

Why chronic pain claims are contested

Insurers find chronic pain hard to accept because it often can't be seen on an X-ray or MRI. They'll argue you should have recovered, that another condition is to blame, or that you're exaggerating. None of that makes your pain less real. Pain medicine recognises that the nervous system itself can change after an injury, keeping pain signals going long after tissue damage has repaired. Courts in the US, UK and Canada accept that chronic pain can be a genuine, compensable injury when the evidence supports it.

Conditions you might hear about

• Chronic pain syndrome or chronic primary pain, where pain becomes a condition in itself.
• Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), often following a limb injury, with burning pain, swelling and changes in skin colour or temperature.
• Chronic neck or back pain after whiplash or soft tissue injury.
• Fibromyalgia-type symptoms, where the link to trauma is more often disputed.

Evidence that makes the difference

1. Continuity. Medical notes from the accident onward, with no long unexplained gaps.
2. Specialist opinion. A pain specialist, rheumatologist or neurologist who can explain the diagnosis and link it to the accident.
3. Treatment history. Physiotherapy, medication trials, injections and pain management programmes all show you've tried to get better.
4. Effect on daily life. Work records, statements from family and a pain diary.
5. Mental health. Depression and anxiety often go with chronic pain. They should be diagnosed and treated, and they're part of the claim.

How it affects value

Chronic pain can turn a modest claim into a much larger one, because it may affect your ability to work for years and your need for long-term treatment. Valuations often rely on expert evidence about your prognosis and future earnings. In Canada, pain and suffering awards are subject to a court-set cap, indexed for inflation, though loss of income and care costs aren't capped in the same way. In England and Wales, judges use the Judicial College Guidelines, which include brackets for chronic pain conditions.

Next: maximum medical improvement · pain and suffering · soft tissue injuries.

Related terms