A serious accident can affect your life in many ways. The physical and emotional trauma you suffer in an accident can interfere with every aspect of your life, including your ability to enjoy the things that you used to. If an accident in Dallas caused a loss of enjoyment or quality of life, such as by interfering with your ability to play with your children or engage in favorite hobbies, you may be eligible for financial compensation for this loss in a personal injury case.
In personal injury law, loss of enjoyment of life refers to a diminishment of your enjoyment of daily tasks, experiences or hobbies due to your accident or the related injuries that you suffered. If you sustained a permanent disability in a car accident in Dallas, for example, and can no longer do your job, perform household services, participate in favorite activities or spend quality time with your family, you may qualify for financial compensation for lost enjoyment of life.
Calculating a noneconomic loss such as lost enjoyment of life can be difficult, as you do not have hard evidence to rely on for a numerical amount, such as medical bills. Rather than using bills and receipts, an insurance company, judge or jury will analyze factors that are unique to you to calculate an appropriate amount of financial damages for the loss of your enjoyment of life.
Several of these factors include:
Financial compensation for the loss of enjoyment of life is included under the damage category of pain and suffering. Pain and suffering in Texas is calculated by analyzing how significantly the injury impacted the victim and will continue to alter the victim’s life. A jury can use a few different calculation methods – or no method at all – to determine a fair amount in financial compensation for pain and suffering.
Before you can receive financial compensation for reduced enjoyment or quality of life, you or your personal injury lawyer in Dallas must prove your inability to do certain things that you could do prior to the accident. You must show that these activities are now not possible or less enjoyable for you due to pain, immobility, emotional distress, or other factors that stem from your accident or injury.
Some ways in which you may be able to prove lost enjoyment of life include:
You do not have to prove your injury claim on your own. You have the right to hire an attorney to represent you during your case. An attorney will have the knowledge and experience you need to prove intangible losses such as lost enjoyment of life, pain and suffering, and emotional distress. From gathering statements from witnesses to hiring experts, your lawyer can take many steps to strengthen your claim of loss of enjoyment of life.