Loss of Enjoyment of Life: The Overlooked Driver of Settlement Value

Why Loss of Enjoyment of Life Matters

Some injuries alter more than physical capability, they rob clients of the activities that give their life meaning. For insurers, this impact is measured as Loss of Enjoyment of Life. It represents the hobbies, recreational activities, travel, education, and day-to-day pursuits clients can no longer engage in after an accident.

Modern claims evaluation software such as Colossus, Liability Navigator, and ClaimIQ explicitly tracks these limitations. When structured correctly, they add measurable value to a claim. Yet, much like Duties Under Duress, Loss of Enjoyment of Life is often misunderstood, underreported, or absent from demand packages altogether.

Defining Loss of Enjoyment of Life

Loss of Enjoyment of Life is distinct from Duties Under Duress. Where DUDs represent continuing an activity despite pain, Loss of Enjoyment of Life reflects the complete cessation of an activity because it can no longer be performed.

Common examples include:

• A runner who can no longer jog due to chronic knee pain after a meniscus tear.
  

• A grandparent who stops traveling to see grandchildren because of lumbar spine injuries.
  

• A hobby musician who can no longer play guitar due to radial nerve damage.
  

• A student who discontinues classes due to post-concussive syndrome.
  

In each case, the activity isn’t merely painful — it is abandoned entirely. That loss, when properly documented, is a recognized driver of settlement value.

The Three Requirements for Full Recognition

For Loss of Enjoyment of Life to be fully credited by insurer claims evaluation software, three elements must be present:

1. The Client Must Stop Performing the Activity.
   Unlike DUDs, where persistence through hardship adds value, Loss of Enjoyment of Life claims requires cessation. The activity is discontinued due to physical or cognitive limitations.
   

2. The Physician Must Document the Inability.
   It is not enough for a client to tell their lawyer or family. Treating physicians must note in the medical records that the claimant has discontinued specific activities because of injury-related limitations.
   

3. The Lawyer Must Claim It Correctly in the Demand Letter.
   Vague references like “client enjoys fewer hobbies” are ignored. Insurer systems require structured entries that clearly state the lost activity, tie it to a diagnosis, and identify the timeframe.

If any one of these steps is missing, the Loss of Enjoyment of Life claim is undervalued or even ignored. 

Categories of Recognized Loss

Insurer claim software recognizes Loss of Enjoyment across multiple categories. To maximize value, attorneys must ensure each is considered:

• Work – Inability to perform certain career tasks or pursue advancement.
  

• Domestic – Loss of family-related activities, such as childcare involvement & food prep.
  

• Household – Loss of ability to manage shopping, maintenance, or yardwork.
  

• Education – Inability to continue classes or training due to cognitive or physical impairment.
  

• Hobbies – Loss of recreational pursuits such as sports, music, art, or gardening.
  

• Travel – Inability to take trips, vacations, or visit loved ones due to injury limitations.
  

Each lost activity, when tied to a diagnosis and documented properly, adds incremental value in insurer systems.

Why Loss of Enjoyment of Life Claims Are So Often Mishandled

Despite its importance, Loss of Enjoyment of Life is frequently mismanaged in practice. Here are some of the reasons why:

Incomplete Client Reporting

Clients may not realize that being forced to stop gardening, hiking, or traveling is relevant. They underreport or overlook the value of these details, sometimes failing to report them to their physicians at all.

Missing Physician Notes

Providers rarely ask about hobbies or recreational activities. Unless the client raises it, physicians will not record it. And without documentation, insurer software disregards the claim. Even when the lawyer properly claims it in their demand letter, if it’s not documented in the medical records, it doesn’t count. 

Weak Demand Drafting

Even when attorneys include Loss of Enjoyment of Life claims in their demand letters, it’s often phrased generically. “Client can no longer enjoy prior hobbies” is meaningless to the insurer AI. Without specifics, dates, and diagnostic links, the system registers no added value.

The end result is a claim that should command higher compensation but is undervalued because Loss of Enjoyment was never properly captured.

Why Insurers Value Loss of Enjoyment

Colossus and comparable systems recognize Loss of Enjoyment of Life for two main reasons:

• Severity Marker – Discontinued activities signal a more serious injury than one that is merely painful. They demonstrate permanent or long-term change. Incidentally, Colossus historically valued Loss of Enjoyment of Life in claims with at least 3% whole person impairment (according to the AMA Guides) higher than those without impairment.
  

• Prognosis Factor – Activities stopped entirely suggest diminished quality of life and ongoing impairment, which increases projected future costs. Prognosis is a high value driver, and when Loss of Enjoyment of Life is a factor in the claim, Prognosis also becomes more valuable. 
  

When correctly presented, Loss of Enjoyment of Life pushes valuation ranges higher. When missing, insurers have no basis to account for it.

Settlement Intelligence: Substantiating Loss of Enjoyment of Life Claims End to End

At demandletters.ai, we ensure that Loss of Enjoyment of Life is systematically captured and structured in every demand package.

Proprietary Intake and MMI Forms

Our founder — author of the only treatise on Colossus — holds copyright to forms specifically designed to capture Loss of Enjoyment for Colossus, the most commonly used software. These forms:

• Prompt clients to disclose discontinued activities across all six categories.
  

• Ensure physicians are made aware so they document the limitations.
  

• Provide attorneys with structured data ready for inclusion in demand letters.
  

Like our Duties Under Duress forms, these Loss of Enjoyment of Life forms are provided free to all Settlement Intelligence subscribers.

AI-Optimized Demand Letter Integration

Capturing the information is not enough. The demand must translate Loss of Enjoyment of Life into structured fields that insurer software can score.

Our demand letters:

• Link each loss to the correct ICD-10 injury code.
  

• Identify the timeframe when the activity was discontinued.
  

• Place the information in insurer-recognized formats and terms for maximum impact.
  

This ensures Loss of Enjoyment isn’t buried in narrative but is recognized as a formal value driver.

Case Examples

• Case One: A client with a torn meniscus discontinued weekly recreational basketball. With physician documentation and structured demand entry, the insurer’s offer increased by nearly $25,000.
  

• Case Two: A retiree who stopped annual travel to visit grandchildren after lumbar surgery saw settlement value increase by over 20% once Loss of Enjoyment was properly documented and claimed in the demand letter.
  

No new treatment or expert opinions were added. The difference was structured recognition of activities the client could no longer enjoy.

Loss of Enjoyment of Life in the Larger Context

Loss of Enjoyment of Life is one of the five core value drivers Settlement Intelligence emphasizes in every demand package:

1. Accurate ICD-10 coding of injuries
   

2. Clear prognosis in treatment records
   

3. Duties Under Duress
   

4. Loss of Enjoyment of Life
   

5. Permanent impairment
   

Together, these elements ensure claims are fully recognized by insurer systems and prevent the silent devaluation that plagues traditional narrative-style demand letters.

The Bottom Line

Loss of Enjoyment of Life is not a soft add-on. It is a structured, algorithmic input in insurer claim valuation. Yet in most law firm workflows, it is missing, mishandled, or ignored.

To secure its full value:

1. Clients must stop performing the activity.
   

2. Physicians must document the cessation in medical records.
   

3. Attorneys must assert the limitation in structured, insurer-readable demand letters.
   

At Settlement Intelligence, we give firms the tools to execute this process every time. With proprietary forms, AI-calibrated demand generation, and expert system design, our subscribers ensure that Loss of Enjoyment of Life, along with every other top value driver, is properly captured and compensated.

👉 Learn more and access subscriber resources at demandletters.ai