Care costs relate to an injured party inability to complete daily living tasks.

The idea is the amount of money received under this head of damage will pay for another person to assist with daily living and maintenance task.

The care can be provided to you by friends, neighbours or relatives, or you may have engaged paid services to undertake the tasks you could not perform yourself due to your injury.

Legislation in Queensland imposes threshold care requirements in cases of motor accident injury or public liability claims, and there are increased restrictions on care claims when claiming for a work injury.

Again, this is dependent on the level of care that is required based on your unique circumstance.

It’s known as gratuitous care.

Confusing title aside, it relates to any voluntary work of third parties (like your friends, family (including your partner), neighbours, and very kind strangers) who assist you in any of the above tasks.

You will need to prove that you completed the tasks before the accident.

For personal care tasks (such as showering, cleaning your teeth), it’s assumed you would have completed tasks those tasks yourself.

For jobs such as cooking, cleaning, garden care and child care, evidence is needed to show that you were responsible for some or all of these tasks within your household.

Equally so, you will need to put a monetary value on the work that you do. 

Some examples of evidence might include:

• Testimony from partner, or someone living with you of the jobs you usually do around the house
• Tax invoices and receipts for commercial care post accident
• Quote for commercial care (such as a gardener, cleaner, nanny etc.)
• Record of help provided by friends and time allocated
• A medical note from a medical professional on your ability to complete daily tasks
• Written testimony from friends and family of the hours worked and tasks that were undertaken.

Keeping a record of the care and assistance provided to you due to your injuries is very important, as it can mean the difference between having a claim for care and assistance, or not having such a claim at all.

Keep a spreadsheet that details the following:

• Type of care (paid or unpaid)
• The service provider (company or person's name if unpaid)
• Kind of service provided (i.e. mowing, laundry, cleaning)
• Date and duration of service
• Cost of service (if paid)
• Will the service be required in the future and how often

• Keep receipts for any services that you have paid for;
• Photocopy or scan those receipts, in case they get lost or destroyed;
• Consistently fill out the table as each service is provided;
• Ask the service provider to give you an "Itemised Account" that details the dates and costs of each service when they are performed

Like the saying – don’t put all your eggs in one basket - don’t forget to read the rest of the articles in this series on the other areas of compensation available to you.