You recently suffered debilitating injuries in a truck accident caused by someone else’s negligence or perhaps due to the international acts of another person. You are considering taking legal action against the person or entity whose actions harmed you here in Kentucky.
In researching personal injury cases in Fayette County, KY, you’ve learned that there are many different types of damages you can claim in your filing. Among the different types of non-economic losses you may be able to request compensation for is “diminished quality of life.”
So, what is diminished quality of life in a personal injury lawsuit? Let us explain.
Understanding What Losses Fall Into the Diminished Quality of Life Category
Diminished quality of life, as the name suggests, includes ways a person’s suffering from personal injuries adversely impacted their life. Since tractor-trailer crashes often cause catastrophic injuries, we’ll use this as an example of an accident that can necessitate someone demanding losses for a diminished quality of life.
This may include negative impacts that the Lexington trucking accident caused, such as:
- Inhibiting a person from freely enjoying their life
- An inability to easily handle one’s daily activities they once did, such as taking part in hobbies
- Relationship problems the injury incident may have caused
- A decline in mental health spurred by a person’s involvement in an accident
The above are just a few of many examples of unexpected and unwelcome negative impacts from an injury incident. Each of these could cause a victim not to be able to lead a fulfilling life.
Do Kentucky Truck Crash Victims Qualify Non-Economic Damages Like This?
Oftentimes, our Lexington truck accident attorneys find that our prospective clients understand that they can recover compensation for their economic losses, such as medical bills or lost wages, after an accident caused by another person’s negligence.
However, we find that those same injury victims are also eligible for non-economic damages like diminished quality of life.
Calculating Compensation for Diminished Quality of Life
Tabulating non-economic losses, in general, can be challenging. How do you assign a value to how impactful it has been not being able to take part in activities you were accustomed to after all? While doing this may seem difficult to do in your mind, attorneys like ours at Peterson Law Office do it all the time and can assist you in doing the same in your particular case.
What do we take into account when calculating values for diminished quality of life in a personal injury lawsuit?
- The extent to which your loss has impacted you on an emotional level
- The severity of any physical injuries you have and how impairing it is
- How significantly do your emotional and/or physical injuries affect your ability to take part in your hobbies or maintain a fulfilling personal relationship
While our Lexington, KY, personal injury lawyers sometimes utilize a per diem (per day) method for calculating the quality of losses like these, more often than not, we use a multiplier instead. The latter method involves us taking economic damages and multiplying them by a number that correlates to the severity of your injuries to arrive at a non-economic amount we demand from our clients’ behalves.
Evidence Necessary To Prove Loss of Enjoyment of Life
Assigning a multiplier often necessitates a Lexington injury attorney like ours reviewing some of the following pieces of evidence to substantiate arguments for why you deserve the amount you do:
- A police report for the trucking accident
- Medical records
- Photos or videos
- Witness statements
Getting Help in Building a Strong Claim for Non-Economic Damages in Lexington, KY
Your medical records show how bad your physical injuries are. They may even document how your injury incident had an adverse impact on your emotional state as well.
While those records and bills can go a long way to helping you recoup any losses for costs with actual receipts, don’t you deserve remuneration for how it’s impacted your lifestyle on other levels?
You do, and our personal injury lawyers at Peterson Law Office are eager to help you secure what you deserve. Get in touch with us for help.
