Every injury claim is built from two kinds of losses, and understanding the difference explains a lot about how claims are valued.
Economic Damages: The Countable Losses
Economic damages are the ones with receipts, invoices, and pay stubs behind them:
- Medical bills — emergency care, imaging, treatment, therapy, medication
- Future medical care, when an injury requires ongoing treatment
- Lost income from missed work
- Reduced earning capacity, when an injury changes what work is possible
- Out-of-pocket costs tied to the injury
These are documented and added up. The disputes here are usually about the future components — what care will be needed, and what an injury means for earning ability over time.
Non-Economic Damages: The Human Losses
Non-economic damages compensate what doesn't come with an invoice: physical pain, the disruption of daily life, the activities an injury takes away, and the emotional weight of all of it. These losses are real — often the largest part of what an injury actually costs a person — but there's no receipt for them, which is why they're the most contested part of most claims.
There is no fixed formula. Evaluation draws on the severity and duration of the injury, the treatment involved, and how the injury changed daily life — which is one reason consistent medical documentation matters so much: it's how invisible losses become visible.
Arizona's Rule: No Caps
Here Arizona stands apart. The Arizona Constitution prohibits laws limiting the amount of damages recoverable for injury or death — Arizona is one of only a handful of states with that protection written into its constitution. Where many states cap non-economic damages by statute, Arizona does not: the value of a claim is decided on its facts.
One narrower note: punitive damages — a separate category meant to punish extreme conduct — are rare, reserved for egregious cases, and not available against public entities in Arizona.
Why the Distinction Matters to Your Claim
Insurance evaluations that look only at bills miss the larger half of the picture. A claim presented well documents both categories — the countable and the human — and Arizona's no-cap rule means the second category is never artificially limited.
Wondering what your claim actually includes? Saguaro Injury Law offers free consultations 24/7, in English or Spanish — no fee unless you recover. Call (602) 217-0000 any hour. You can also try our settlement calculator.