An accident or injury can impact numerous aspects of your life. In addition to causing physical injuries and monetary losses, an injury can impact your activities. For many people, the changes are temporary. Once they heal from their injuries, they regain their quality of life.
However, permanent impairments and disabilities may significantly diminish your quality of life forever. If so, you may be entitled to additional compensation for a personal injury claim. This article discusses quality of life and how to file a claim for diminished quality of life after a personal injury or accident.
What Is Diminished Quality of Life?
Quality of life measures the negative and positive aspects of a person’s life at a specific point in time. However, people define their quality of life using different factors.
Generally, quality of life refers to someone’s overall well-being, including physical and emotional health. It can also encompass a person’s wealth and their enjoyment of life.
When evaluating a person’s quality of life, several factors a lawyer will consider include:
- Mental and physical health
- The ability to work and earn an income
- Education and skills
- Social reputation and status
- Feeling secure and safe
- The ability to bear children
- Job choices and career opportunities
- Being able to care for and be active participants in their children’s lives
- Where a person lives
- The ability to form and maintain close relationships
- Being able to care for personal needs and activities of daily living, including bathing, dressing, grooming, and feeding without assistance
A person’s quality of life is subjective. It depends on that person’s life experiences, beliefs, expectations, and preferences. More weight may be placed on specific factors for one person than another. For example, a person losing their ability to perform their chosen career could be far more devastating than losing the ability to have children.
Calculating the Severity of Diminished Quality of Life
Determining the value of loss of quality of life is a complicated process. One of the first things a lawyer will do is analyze how your injuries impact your life and the severity of their impact. They will look at numerous factors, such as:
- The type of injuries you sustained and the impairments they caused
- The severity of the impairments, such as partial versus complete paralysis
- The ongoing medical treatment required
- Your age, life expectancy, and overall health at the time of the injury
- The prognosis for your condition
- Your appearance before and after the injuries (i.e., scarring and disfigurement)
- The need for personal and/or skilled care
- Whether you can conceive, bear, and care for children
- The impact of your injuries on your personal relationships
- Your ability to perform tasks required for everyday life
- Whether your impairments prevent you from performing a gainful activity to earn an income
- The ability to enjoy the activities and hobbies you did before your injuries
A lawyer can determine how many areas of your life may be affected by your injuries and the severity of the impact on each area. Generally, a person’s quality of life is more diminished with each area of their life impacted by their injuries and the severity of the impact.
Diminished quality of life can be challenging to prove because it is subjective. A lawyer will rely on testimony from your family and friends, medical records, and the opinions of medical experts to demonstrate how your quality of life changed after your injuries.
Calculating the Value of a Diminished Quality of Life Claim in Pennsylvania
Placing a value on a person’s pain and suffering is challenging. Diminished quality of life is part of your non-economic damages. A common method used to calculate the value of diminished quality of life is with a multiplier.
A number between 1 and 5 will be assigned to your case based on the severity of your injuries. Generally, the multiplier increases as the severity of the injuries and impairments increases. For example, a spinal cord injury that causes complete paralysis may have a multiplier of five.
Your lawyer will multiply your economic damages (i.e., financial losses) by the multiplier. The result is the value of your non-economic damages, including diminished quality of life.
Does Contributory Fault Impact a Claim for Diminished Quality of Life?
Pennsylvania uses a comparative negligence standard for personal injury claims instead of a strict contributory fault law. You are barred from receiving damages if your level of fault for causing your injuries is 51% or more. If you are less than 51% to blame, your damages will be proportionate to your percentage of fault.
In a catastrophic injury case, the insurance company may try to lower the amount it must pay by shifting some blame to you. Protect yourself against these claims by allowing an experienced personal injury attorney to handle all communications with the insurance company. Do not agree to answer questions or make a statement until you speak with an attorney.
Get Help With a Personal Injury Claim
Injuries and accidents can change your life forever. You deserve compensation for them. Call a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer today at (215) 875-7030.