Imagine a young couple gets married with big plans to start a family. They want to have four or five children and after a long engagement, they’re ready to start having children. After just three months of marriage, the husband is involved in a car accident and he’s paralyzed from the waist down.
Now, the doctors tell him that he’ll never be able to perform sexually with his wife, let alone have any children. Understandably, his wife is devastated and her entire world just came crashing down.
In another example, a stay-at-home mother of three is killed after being hit by a drunk driver while she was out for a jog one morning. Her death left three children without a mother, and her husband without a loving wife. Both of these examples could give rise to a claim for loss of consortium.
Loss of Consortium Defined
Loss of consortium claims are generally filed by spouses, children, and other family members when someone is seriously injured or killed due to the negligence or wrongful act of another. Loss of consortium is supposed to help compensate individuals who have directly suffered because of their loved one’s untimely and preventable injury or death.
With a loss of consortium claim, the theory is that as a result of the defendant’s wrongful act, the injured party is not able to provide their spouse or family member with the love, care, support, comfort, or sexual relations (for spouses) they provided them before the accident. In effect, the injured party’s family member can file a claim against the defendant for their losses.
Loss of consortium claims are not filed casually. They are typically successful when the plaintiff (injured party) was killed, or when they suffered a serious and permanent injury, such as paralysis or amputation. “How much are loss of consortium claims worth?” It depends on the facts of the case and the decision is usually left to either a judge or a jury.
If you believe you have a loss of consortium claim, contact our Columbia, SC personal injury law firm to schedule a case evaluation.