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If a serious injury has kept you from doing the things you love, whether that means coaching your kid's soccer team, exercising, traveling, tending your garden, or simply taking a walk without pain, your claim may involve more than medical bills and lost wages.
In Arizona personal injury cases, loss of enjoyment of life may be considered as part of your non-economic damages. These damages focus on how an injury has changed your daily life, your independence, your relationships, and your ability to participate in the activities that once gave you purpose or joy.
At Skousen Gulbrandsen & Patience PLC, our Mesa personal injury lawyers have helped injured Arizonans pursue compensation for the full impact of serious injuries, including the way those injuries affect quality of life. If your injury has changed how you live, work, move, or spend time with the people who you love, call us today at (480) 833-8800 and let us help you take back the spark in your life.
Loss of enjoyment of life (LEL) compensates injury victims for their inability to participate in activities, routines, and relationships that once brought them pleasure, purpose, or fulfillment. These damages may apply when a person can no longer enjoy hobbies, recreation, family responsibilities, social activities, exercise, travel, or daily independence in the same way they did before the injury.
This goes beyond physical pain. A person may still be able to work or complete basic tasks, but the injury may prevent them from living fully. For example, someone with a serious back injury may be able to walk short distances but no longer hike, golf, garden, pick up their grandchildren, or sit through a family trip without pain.
Loss of enjoyment of life is sometimes referred to as hedonic damages. In Arizona, these damages can be considered separately from pain and suffering when the evidence shows how the injury changed the person’s ability to enjoy life.
Yes. Arizona plaintiffs can sue for loss of enjoyment of life in personal injury cases involving negligence, including car accidents, slip-and-falls, workplace injuries, and more. If someone else's wrongful conduct caused your injury, you have the right to pursue these damages as part of your claim.
Arizona's State Constitution does not cap non-economic damages, meaning there is no arbitrary limit on what you can recover for losses like LEL. The key is connecting your diminished quality of life directly to the defendant's negligent actions.
Arizona courts have treated loss of enjoyment of life as an independent damages category. In cases like Ogden v. J.M. Steel Erecting, Inc., the courts affirmed that LEL stands apart from pain and suffering, reinforcing that injured Arizonans can pursue both types of non-economic damages in the same claim.
People often use these terms interchangeably, but they cover different ground. Differences include:
For example, chronic back pain after a car accident might form the basis of a pain and suffering claim. The fact that the same injury has ended your weekly hiking trips or made family vacations impossible is what gives rise to a loss of enjoyment of life claim. Both are non-economic damages, but they address different dimensions of what an injury takes from you.
Loss of enjoyment of life looks different for every person, but the strongest claims usually show a clear before-and-after change. In Arizona personal injury cases, these damages may apply when an injury prevents someone from participating in the activities, routines, relationships, and responsibilities that once gave their life meaning.
Examples:
These examples matter because loss of enjoyment of life is not based only on the diagnosis. It is based on how the injury changed the person’s actual life. The more clearly the injured person can show what they did before the accident, what they can no longer do, and how that loss affects their daily routine, the stronger the claim may be.
In the Phoenix metro area, car accidents are among the most common causes of the severe injuries that give rise to these claims. What Types of Injuries Qualify?
Not every injury will support a loss of enjoyment of life claim, but many catastrophic injuries do. Qualifying injuries typically include:
The common thread is that the injury must have caused a measurable, lasting change in your ability to live and enjoy your life the way you did before.
Because LEL is subjective, building a strong evidentiary foundation is critical. The types of evidence that help support these claims include:
The more specifically you can connect your injury to concrete lost activities, the stronger your claim becomes. Vague descriptions of "not feeling like yourself" are harder to litigate than documented evidence that you coached baseball three times a week before the accident and have not been able to do so since.
If you're unsure how to document these losses, call Skousen Gulbrandsen & Patience PLC at (480) 833-8800 and speak with one of our personal injury attorneys today.
There is no single formula Arizona courts use to calculate loss of enjoyment of life damages. Valuation is largely subjective and takes into account the:
Attorneys and experts may use multiplier methods, per diem calculations, or economic modeling to arrive at a reasonable figure, but ultimately it is juries who decide what a fair award looks like based on the evidence presented.
Settlement amounts for loss of enjoyment of life vary enormously depending on the facts of each case. Minor claims with partial or temporary limitations might settle for $10,000 or more as a component of total non-economic damages. Cases involving severe permanent injuries such as paralysis or traumatic brain injury can result in LEL awards exceeding $100,000, sometimes significantly, as part of a larger settlement or verdict.
Your attorney will be able to give you an estimate as to the amount of compensation you may receive, but there are no guarantees until your claim is officially settled.
Loss of enjoyment of life claims face real obstacles. Insurance companies frequently challenge these damages because of their inherently subjective nature, and defense attorneys may argue that a plaintiff has overstated their losses or that the activities in question were not a meaningful part of their life before the injury.
Common challenges include:
These challenges are why having an experienced attorney in your corner matters. A lawyer who knows how to gather and present the right evidence can make the difference between a lowball settlement and a recovery that truly reflects what you've lost.
Pursuing loss of enjoyment of life damages requires more than just telling your story. It takes strategic documentation, expert coordination, and aggressive negotiation with insurance companies that would prefer to minimize what they pay you.
The Mesa personal injury lawyers at Skousen Gulbrandsen & Patience PLC understand how to build loss of enjoyment of life claims that hold up. We work with medical experts and other specialists to give your claim the evidentiary foundation it needs. We handle the legal challenges so you can focus on your recovery.
If you have suffered a serious injury that has changed the way you live, we want to hear from you. Contact us today or call (480) 833-8800 to schedule a free consultation. There are no fees unless we win your case.