Household services
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The Cost of Household Services, Alberta, 2018: A Survey
by Christopher J. Bruce and Jody Prevost The cost of hiring individuals to perform household services such as housecleaning, snow removal, and handyman repairs can amount to a significant percentage of the damages in a personal injury or fatal accident claim. Yet, despite the importance of these costs, reliable estimates of the components of a household services… Continue reading
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The Cost of Household Services, Alberta 2014: A Survey
Christopher Bruce and Russette Pack summarise the results of a 2014 survey they conducted concerning the costs of providing household services in Alberta. They report that the costs of meal preparation, maintenance and repairs, snow removal and lawn mowing, housecleaning and laundry, and child care have all increased since our last survey; and that the… Continue reading
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The Cost of Household Services, Alberta, 2010: A Survey
Perhaps the most important difference between this survey and the previous two is that whereas the 1999 and 2005 surveys were conducted primarily using telephone and newspapers, the 2010 survey relied almost exclusively on the internet – either Kijiji and Craigslist or agencies’ websites. We found that, with respect to most of the services that… Continue reading
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The Cost of Household Services, Alberta, 2006: A Survey
The article reports the results of a survey we conducted in late 2005 and early 2006. We obtained housecleaning, handyman, landscaping and snow removal, child care, and home care/meal preparation rates from a large sample of agencies and individuals in both Calgary and Edmonton, and housecleaning rates for smaller samples in Lethbridge, Grande Prairie, and… Continue reading
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Claims by Elderly Parents for Loss of Caregiving by Adult Children
The article addresses the fact that many adult children accept at least some responsibility for the provision of care to their aging parents. This leads to a possible claim by elderly parents for the loss of caregiving services, if an adult child is seriously injured or killed. The purpose of his article is to review… Continue reading
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An Alternative Method for Assessing the Value of Housewife Services
The article develops a new and creative method for assessing the value of the housework provided by women in “traditional” marriages; that is, by women who stay at home full time. Professor Allen is an internationally recognised expert on economic aspects of marriage and divorce. He has, for example, written extensively on the impact of… Continue reading
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Outstanding Issues in the Valuation of Household Services
In this article Therese Brown and Christopher Bruce wrap up the series of five articles on household services which have been presented in our newsletter. They deal with several of the issues which have not been dealt with specifically in previous articles. Included are the following: the suggested approach when a plaintiff is still able… Continue reading
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Determination of the Hourly Cost of Household Services
Therese Brown and Audrey Hallson, in the fourth of a five-part series of articles, discuss the estimation of an appropriate hourly rate in cases which involve the loss of household services. This discussion details rates gleaned from a 1997 survey of household providers which was conducted by Economica. Continue reading
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Notable Judgments in the Valuation of Household Services
Therese Brown, in the third of a series of articles on household services, reviews various judgments which are of interest in this area. She discusses the substantiation of the loss, as well as the issue of replacement cost. It is also noted that assumptions based on traditional beliefs may prove to be erroneous. Continue reading
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Determination of Contribution to Household Services
In this article, various complexities arising from the determination of the loss of household services in personal injury or fatal accident actions are explored by Therese Brown in the next article. While it is pointed out that information specific to the individual is preferable, average statistics are frequently relied on as well. Continue reading