Vicissitudes for future domestic assistance?

In this case the NSW Court of Appeal had to deal with the interplay between the provision of gratuitous domestic assistance and the claimed need for assistance on a commercial basis into the future. Of interest, the provision of past gratuitous assistance may not immediately convert to damages for the cost of commercial services post dating the trial.

Background

The plaintiff had suffered a lower back injury at work in 1973 which continued to cause lower back pain up until the time of the subject accident on 24 November 2004. There were further injuries to the neck and back in motor vehicle accidents in 1989 and 1998. He suffered heart attacks in 1997 and 1999 and a stroke in 2004. The plaintiff was aged 61 at the time of the trial in 2008 and had not undertaken significant work since 1998. He was in receipt of a disability pension and his wife was in receipt of a carer's pension. The evidence established a provision of gratuitous domestic assistance at four hours