The legal system permits the filing of personal injury claims, because it seeks to promote fairness. If someone has been injured in an accident, it seems fair to create a system whereby the injured party can be put back into his or her former position.
What if the injured victim had been a homemaker or a stay-at-home parent, how do you put them back in their former position? In Alberta, lawmakers answered that question by adding 2 further benefits to the ones already given to eligible accident victims. Those added benefits for special damages ensured delivery of compensation for future cost of income and for loss of housekeeping capacity.
Details regarding special damages for future loss of income:
This award was intended for those who would have returned to work if not for their injury. What had to be proven by a plaintiff seeking benefits for future loss of income?
Plaintiff had to prove that he or she was less capable of earning an income. What sorts of accommodations would employers have to make, in order to make use of the plaintiff’s talents or skills? If employers were refusing to make such accommodations, then the plaintiff appeared to lack the ability to earn an income.
By the same token, the plaintiff had to show that he or she had become less marketable in the eyes of potential employers. An injury lawyer in Medicine Hat could demonstrate a loss of marketability if some major change in the profession had taken place during the plaintiff’s period of recovery.
Finally, it was the plaintiff’s job to show that the injury had reduced the plaintiff’s ability to take advantage of available employment opportunities. This might be shown by providing the court with a copy of the plaintiff’s resume. If it had an empty space, which represented the time spent recovering from the accident, employers might frown on the presence of that empty space.
What had to be proven by a plaintiff seeking benefits for loss of housekeeping capacity?
In order to determine the monetary value of a needed housekeeping benefit, the court the court must order an assessment of the cost for replacing those particular housekeeping services. The existence of a cost can serves as proof that the services provided within the home had a monetary value. In other words, the value of the home’s system for meeting the needs of the home’s residents ensured the presence of order within that particular residence.
When awarded, the special damages got added to the money for medical expenses and the funds for loss of income. An injured victim seeking money for loss of income would not need compensation for a loss of housekeeping capacity; a victim that had returned to work would not need money for future loss of income.