Loss of housekeeping capacity

A claimant may also be entitled to compensation for a loss of their ability to engage in normal household chores such as cooking, cleaning, or shopping for groceries as a result of their injuries. This head of damage is meant to recognize a diminishment in a claimant’s ability to perform everyday household maintenance tasks. Generally, the future loss of housekeeping capacity is assessed on a replacement cost basis, that is, claimants are awarded for the market cost of hiring domestic help to assist with the chores they are no longer able to do. The courts have also established that housekeeping services performed by spouses or other family members to replace the housekeeping activities that the individual was no longer able to engage in can have economic value for which damages may be awarded.