If you have been hurt in a car accident, chances are your injuries will affect your entire family. Your loved ones may not only worry about you, but they may suffer from their own losses because of the accident. Read on to find out more about the loss of consortium damages.

What Are Damages?

When it comes to auto accidents, damages can be numerous. Your wrecked vehicle is one form of damage, and your medical condition is another. If you end up missing time from work, that is a legitimate form of damage. Pain and suffering can be the most valuable, money-wise, of all. However, some states allow victims to also be paid for another form of damage, loss of consortium.

Not Necessarily About Sex

Loss of consortium is about much more than a loss of sexual companionship. This form of damage covers not only marital and romantic partners but also children, siblings, and other members of the family. As you can imagine, every member of a family is valued for what they bring to the relationship. An accident with injuries can put a sudden stop to that. The below examples of what a loss of consortium can mean to a victim's family may help explain the lengths this form of damage can go:

• Loss of services: You may be counted on to take care of your family and you did so prior to the accident. However, now your injuries prevent you from performing day-to-day tasks that are so important. Meal preparation, housework, helping with a child's homework, taking a spouse to a medical appointment, and other tasks will go undone.
• Loss of sexual companionship: This is a sensitive area, but civil law recognizes the part this important aspect of a relationship plays.
• Loss of personal companionship: This covers things that happen daily that many fail to take note of until they are missing. You may always visit your mother to care for her every day for instance.  You may refill prescriptions, prepare her meals, clean her home, etc. When you are unable to perform those tasks, others must be inconvenienced, or someone must be paid to do them.

How to be Paid for Loss of Consortium

Each state that recognizes this form of damage has requirements. In most cases, the physical injuries of the victim are key. The injuries must be such that the victim cannot perform their usual duties because of the accident. They may be hospitalized, unable to get around, or just too injured to do the things they used to do.

For more info, contact a local firm like Willis Spangler Starling.