What If I Can’t Do Household Chores Because of My Injury? 

Personal Injury Lawsuit
Personal Injury Lawsuit

When the average person suffers a personal injury, their first and main concern is how the injury will impact their ability to do their job and earn a living. You seek out an experienced personal injury lawyer specifically so that you can start the legal proceedings required for medical compensation and lost wages. What few of us stop to consider is the long and short-term impact the injuries have on your daily life. In addition to wondering how you’ll pay your medical expenses and maintain your career, you and your accident lawyer should also discuss what happens if you can’t do household chores because of your personal injury.

Discovering The Impact Your Personal Injury has on Your Ability to Complete Household Chores

One of the reasons so many people fail to realize the impact their personal injury has on their ability to do household chores is because in the days, weeks, and even months following the accident, they usually have a support system that steps in to help them. Friends and family are usually willing to pick up the slack and take care of the house while you recover.

It isn’t until some time has passed and your loved ones reach a point where they can no longer spend as much time helping care for your home because they have to return to their own household duties that you fully realize how the accident has impacted this part of your life.

How Long Will You be Unable to Complete Household Chores

The first thing you’ll need to decide is if your inability to do household chores is going to last forever or if you’ll eventually recover enough to handle everything on your own. This question may not be as easy to answer as you first think. Immediately following your accident, your doctor will only be able to hypothesize about when and how completely you’ll recover from your injuries. It won’t be until they declare that you’ve reached max medical improvement that you’ll fully understand the permanent impact the accident has had on your ability to do household chores.

Proving You’re Unable to Do Your Household Chores After a Personal Injury

Your inability to handle necessary household chores is considered a component of recoverable damages. Don’t be surprised if you have to submit proof that you’re no longer able to do a household chore and that it’s also something you did before sustaining the personal injury. Winning a settlement that includes compensation for an inability to perform household chores requires that you’re legal team be able to demonstrate that you not only performed the household chore before the accident but that you are no longer able to. You’ll also have to prove that the ability to do the household chore is vital to the quality of your life.

Ways you can show that you did perform household chores before the accident include:

  • Statements/testimony from expert witnesses
  • Statements/testimony from loved ones who have first-hand knowledge of your ability to complete the household chore
  • Videos of you doing the household chore before the accident

Knowing How Much to Request

Showing that you’re no longer able to perform household chores following an accident is one thing. Showing the financial impact of your inability to do the household chores following your personal injury accident is a whole new challenge.

In most cases, the best approach to the situation is determining exactly what household chores you can’t complete such as lawn work, general maintenance, cleaning, etc. You and your personal injury attorney will have to research the current going rate connected to those services in your state. You will also have to decide and prove, how often you’ll need those services.

If you’ve reached a state of max medical improvement, your legal team will not only have to determine how much of a settlement you’ll need to cover the current cost of the household chores as well as how much they are expected to increase in the upcoming years.

Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer Today

State laws surrounding personal injury cases are quite complicated, which is why it’s in your best interest to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer shortly after you’ve been hurt. Your lawyer will:

  • Help you accurately access exactly how large a settlement you’ll require to have all your financial needs covered
  • Make sure all the paperwork is properly filed
  • Provide the moral support you’ll need to get through this tough situation

When you have an experienced personal injury lawyer in your corner, one who is truly dedicated to making sure you’re taken care of, you can stop worrying about how you’ll pay your bills and earn a living and dedicate all of your time and energy to the healing process.

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