Recovering Hedonic Damages in Accidents

Personal injury accidents usually result to people losing limbs, getting paralyzed, or having injuries that will prevent him from enjoying simple activities such as walking or working for a living.

Aside from money, pleasure is one of the most important things in one’s life. Be it in the pleasure of walking dogs or raising a family, no one should be deprived of the simple joys they will experience from engaging in such activities.

Because of this, Hedonic damages are often sought by victims of accidents which are a result of the defendant’s negligence. Hedonic, which is rooted from the Greek word “hedone”, meaning pleasure, is a non-economic damage that provides the plaintiff compensation for his loss of enjoyment of life.

Here are some examples of personal injury accidents where victims can recover hedonic damages:

• Car accident
• Fall accident
• Drowning accident
• Fire and explosion accident

Claimants must be able to prove that the defendant failed to provide safety because of his negligence and that the injury suffered could have been avoided in the exercise of due diligence because such injury can be foreseen as a result of possible accidents that could happen.

The above mentioned accidents claim and cripple thousands of lives each year and greatly limit the ability of others to live normally. Aside from hedonic damages, victims can also claim compensation for their pain and suffering, lost wages, medical expenses, and other damages.

Hedonic Damages

Almost every state recognizes the importance of hedonic damages and so claimants are awarded with the value of a statistical life (VSL) which economists have estimated to to cost around $4-5 million.

In some states that do not recognize hedonic damages, victims can claim compensation for their losses through other non-economic damages such as pain and suffering.

Hedonic damages can be claimed in cases involving another person’s injury.

For instance, a person’s leg has been amputated because of a fall accident caused by a defective product. He can sue the makers of the said product and recover hedonic damages for losing the ability and the pleasure of walking around and travel short distances without going through so much trouble.

Determining the exact amount for hedonic damages is a tedious job as the plaintiff would have to prove that such amount is appropriate for his loss. It often includes psychological evaluation to determine the extent of the damage to one’s enjoyment of life.

Assistance of a Personal Injury lawyer

In proving your case against a negligent party, it is important to have good legal representatives who can competently assess your case and prove the liability of the other party. They can also assist victims in acquiring the services of experts such as psychologists who can justify the amount of hedonic damages being sought for.