Pain and Suffering After a Car Accident in Virginia: What to Understand Before You Decide

Can you get pain and suffering from a car accident without a lawyer? In short, you can present that claim to the at-fault driver’s insurer yourself. Whether it leads to money, and how much, is a separate question. This guide explains the steps, the deadlines and the open legal questions so you can decide what to do next.

What Pain and Suffering Means in a Car Accident Claim

People use the phrase pain and suffering to describe the physical and emotional effects an injury has on daily life. That can include pain, worry, disrupted sleep and activities that become hard to do. How Virginia law treats these effects in a claim is a question for a lawyer to review based on the facts.

Readers who ask can you get pain and suffering from a car accident without a lawyer often mix up three separate things. One is an insurer’s settlement offer. Another is an amount a court might award. The third is the claim process itself. An offer is a proposal from one side. A court award comes from a judge or jury after a case is filed. The claim process is the path between them. Keeping these three ideas apart makes every later step easier to follow.

For a wider overview, read the truck and car accident guide from Correll Law Firm.

Can You Present an Injury Claim Without a Lawyer?

Yes. A person may contact the at-fault driver’s insurer and present an injury claim without a lawyer. Most people start by gathering the police report number, the other driver’s insurance details, medical records and bills, and photos of the vehicles and the scene. They then write a clear account of the crash and of how the injuries affect daily life.

Whether that claim succeeds, and how much it is worth, turns on the specifics of each case. Fault, the nature of the injury and the documents available all play a part. A lawyer may review those facts with you.

Some people handle a simple claim on their own. Others find the questions harder when injuries last longer or fault is disputed. Keep a copy of every letter, form and email you send or receive. You may wish to speak with a lawyer before you accept any offer, so you understand what it covers.

How Insurers Review Injury Claims

An insurer reviews an injury claim by requesting records and documents about the injuries and the crash. The adjuster may ask for medical records, bills, a description of your injuries and details about how the crash happened. Some adjusters also ask for a recorded or written statement.

Statements you give an insurer can matter to your claim. What a statement means legally, and whether you should give one, is a question for a lawyer to review.

Medical records and bills are the documents most people gather first. They show what treatment was given. No single document settles a claim by itself.

Virginia requires motor vehicle owners to carry liability insurance. For policies from January 1, 2025, the minimums are $50,000 for one person and $100,000 for two or more persons, plus $25,000 for property damage (Va. Code § 46.2-472). A driver’s policy may carry higher limits than those minimums.

Medical Care and Documenting Your Injuries

Get a medical evaluation after a crash and follow your clinician’s advice. Medical records describe what you reported, what was found and what treatment followed. Keep appointment summaries, prescriptions and receipts together in one place.

Many people also keep a simple symptom journal. Note your pain level, your sleep, tasks you cannot do and appointments you miss. A journal is a record of daily life. It is not a prediction of what a claim will be worth.

Missed work matters too. Ask your employer for a letter, or keep pay records that show time off and any change in hours.

An insurer may ask about gaps in treatment. How a gap may affect a claim is a question to review with a lawyer. For more on notice to your own insurer, see insurance notice timing.

Reporting the Crash and Filing Deadlines

Virginia requires a driver involved in a crash with injury or death to stop and report it to police immediately (Va. Code §§ 46.2-371, 46.2-894). Separately, Virginia law requires the driver to render reasonable assistance to any person injured in the accident, including taking that person to a physician, surgeon, or hospital if it is apparent that medical treatment is necessary or is requested by the injured person (Va. Code § 46.2-894). Under Va. Code § 46.2-894, the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident in which a person is killed or injured must immediately stop as close to the scene as possible without obstructing traffic and report to the State Police or local law enforcement.

The two-year period is the deadline to file a lawsuit, not to report a crash. Virginia generally allows two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit (Va. Code § 8.01-243(A)); the clock runs from the date of injury, not the date of discovery, with narrow exceptions. Under Va. Code § 8.01-243(A), unless otherwise provided in that section or by other statute, every action for personal injuries, whatever the theory of recovery, must be brought within two years after the cause of action accrues.

Some claims carry notice requirements that run out sooner. A lawyer may review the deadlines that apply to your facts.

Partial Fault and Handling a Claim Alone

Virginia follows contributory negligence: if you are found even partly at fault, you may be barred from recovering, with limited exceptions. Talk to a lawyer about your facts.

Fault is often disputed in injury claims. The other side may point to something you did or did not do at the scene.

Handling a claim alone means you carry the work of tracking evidence, answering the insurer and watching deadlines. Write down who said what at the scene. Note any witnesses and any cameras that may have recorded the crash. If fault is unclear, the guide on claims when fault is unclear covers related questions.

When It May Be Worth Talking With a Lawyer

You may wish to talk with a lawyer when an injury is serious or ongoing, an offer is under review, fault is unclear, or a commercial truck is involved. Each of these raises questions that go beyond a simple claim.

Serious injuries, such as traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury, often need longer medical care. Their effects can be harder to document. Commercial truck crashes can involve more than one company, which can make the claim more complex. For readers in the Shenandoah Valley, the Interstate 81 truck accident guide is written with that area in mind.

Correll Law Firm handles car accident, truck and commercial vehicle, and wrongful death claims. The firm has offices in Winchester and Harrisonburg.