How To Prove Loss Of Enjoyment Of Life?
How To Prove Loss Of Enjoyment Of Life?
When an individual sustains a severe injury, there is a chance that it could completely affect their lifestyle. This includes the person’s ability to work along with their ability to enjoy time with their family and friends. This is often referred to as a loss of quality of life caused by the injury and any disabilities resulting from the incident. Here, we want to discuss how to prove loss of enjoyment of life damages for the purposes of securing compensation.
What is Loss of Enjoyment of Life?
When considering the loss of enjoyment of life, we have to examine what type of damage this is. This would be considered non-economic damage, which is specifically different from economic losses a person experiences after an injury occurs.
Economic damages are calculable expenses that occur after the injury and as a result of the recovery process. This includes medical bills, lost wages, property damage expenses, and other expenses that can be gathered by using receipts and bills.
Non-economic losses, including loss of enjoyment of life, are not as calculable. There may not be any bills or receipts available to show how an injury has affected the overall quality of life for the individual harmed. Loss of quality of life is meant to take into account the individual’s inability to go about their day-to-day life as they could before. This can affect work, hobbies, time with family and friends, and more.
We will typically only see the loss of enjoyment of life damages awarded if a person suffers a physical or mental injury and the injury goes on to affect the person’s ability to perform a given task or multiple tasks.
How This Loss is Proven
Loss of quality of life can be proven in various ways. Typically, total damages awarded for non-economic losses, including loss of enjoyment of life, are left to a jury to decide. When calculating these types of damages, a jury will typically consider the following factors:
- The age of the person injured
- The work history and educational background of the individual
- The severity of the injuries
- Whether or not there has been any disability or scarring and disfigurement
- Future consequences of the injury
- The nature of any activities that have been lost due to the injury or disability
When calculating loss of enjoyment of life and other types of non-economic damages, the geographic location where individual life may also be considered, which is more of a factor for areas that have drastically different costs of living.
In general, individuals working to receive loss of enjoyment of life damages will work with trusted medical, financial, and economic experts who can be called as witnesses to speak to a judge or jury before the total calculations are made. These parties will present various methods to help place a value on the loss of enjoyment the person experiences.
Working With an Attorney
It is crucial for any person who has been injured due to the negligent actions of another to work with a skilled personal injury lawyer in Riverside as soon as possible. An attorney will handle all aspects of the case, including the calculation of economic and non-economic damages. An attorney will have a network of experts they can use to help them make these calculations to present to the insurance carriers, judge, or jury.