Analysis of Household Services

Lost household services (“HHS”) claims represents a “crossover” area of damages that can be addressed by both vocational and forensic economic experts. As with a claim for lost earning capacity there are a number of components; the first considers the actual household activities the plaintiff performed while the second involves the present value calculations that calculate alleged loss.

The ability to do household work is a function of one’s skill set, that is, their knowledge of how to do a specific household task and their physical/emotional ability to perform the essential functions of the task. Wherever possible, therefore, individual-specific analyses should be done.

Courts have typically accepted lost household services as a viable area of damages; however, these claims are often fraught with error, speculation and may be inherently unreliable. VDI can provide an analysis of household services as part of an earning capacity evaluation or Life Care Plan for plaintiff cases and can rebut an opposing expert’s claim for a plaintiff’s loss of household services.