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Quantifying care that has already been provided
Past Care Valuation refers to the assessment and quantification of care, assistance, and support provided to an individual from the date of injury to the time of assessment. This includes both formal services and informal care delivered by family members or others to address functional limitations arising from the injury.
The analysis considers the nature and extent of assistance required with activities of daily living, supervision, and other supportive tasks, together with the frequency and duration of care provided. Quantification is based on the individual’s documented needs and the level of care reasonably required over the relevant period.
Unlike future care quantification, which projects lifetime costs forward, a past care valuation looks backward, documenting and costing the care that has already occurred since the date of injury. This often includes care provided gratuitously by family members that carries real economic value.
Our assessment is grounded in medical documentation, functional evidence, and transparent costing assumptions, resulting in a clear and structured valuation for use in mediation, pre-trial, or trial.
Types of care captured in a past care valuation
A past care valuation focuses on the care, assistance, and support provided to address the individual’s functional limitations since the date of injury, whether that care was delivered by paid providers, family members, or other informal supports.
Family-provided care
Care delivered by spouses, parents, children, siblings, or other family members, often without payment but with real economic value. This may include assistance with daily activities, supervision, mobility, meal preparation, and more.
Personal Support And Attendant Care
Assistance with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, toileting, transfers, mobility, grooming, feeding, and supervision, whether provided by paid caregivers or informal supports.
Support With Daily Functioning
Care and assistance related to the individual’s day-to-day functioning, including reminders, cueing, monitoring, emotional support connected to care needs, and help managing routines made difficult by the injury.
Care Provided By Informal Supports
Assistance provided by friends, neighbours, or other non-family supports where that care addressed needs arising from the injury and can be identified with reasonable clarity.
Care provided by family members and other informal caregivers may carry real economic value even where no payment was made. A past care valuation identifies and quantifies that care using fair market rates for equivalent services.
Common applications in litigation
Medical malpractice claims
Medical malpractice cases, including birth trauma, where significant care needs arise from the injury
Motor vehicle accident cases
Motor vehicle accident cases where accident benefits have been exhausted and the matter is protracted
Personal injury cases
Personal injury cases where there is limited or no access to funding for care and support services
How we conduct a past care valuation
Every valuation follows a structured, evidence-based process to ensure comprehensive coverage, clarity, and methodological consistency.
Medical documentation review
All available medical records, treatment notes, discharge summaries, rehabilitation reports, and specialist assessments are reviewed to establish a comprehensive clinical timeline from the date of injury through the present. This forms the evidentiary foundation of the valuation.
Clinical interview
The planner assesses the functional impact of the injury on the individual's capacity to perform activities of daily living, manage their household, and participate in their pre-injury routines. This may include interviews with the individual and, where appropriate, family members or caregivers who have provided care.
Care inventory
Care needs are identified through available records, interviews, and any contemporaneous notes or care journals maintained by the individual, family members, or caregivers. The assessment focuses on the nature of the care provided, the tasks performed, and the frequency and duration of assistance over the relevant period.
Market value assignment
Each identified service is assigned a reasonable market value using recognized costing sources and transparent assumptions. For services provided gratuitously by family members, the analysis applies the fair market rate for equivalent professional care, ensuring these contributions are properly valued.
Report preparation and peer review
The final valuation is compiled into a clear, structured report with line-by-line cost tables, supported by clinical rationale and transparent methodology. The report undergoes internal peer review to confirm its accuracy, clarity, and methodological soundness prior to delivery.
Past care valuation vs. future care analysis
Understanding the distinction between these two report types helps counsel determine which is needed for their matter, or whether both are required.
Sources of care captured in the analysis
Paid professional caregivers
Nurses, personal support workers, therapists, and other professionals who have been retained to provide care since the injury. Their costs are documented through invoices and receipts.
Family members and spouses
Care provided by family is often the most significant and most undervalued component. Spouses, parents, and children who have taken on caregiving roles deserve to have that contribution recognized at fair market rates.
Informal community supports
Friends, neighbours, and community members who have assisted with transportation, meals, household tasks, or supervision. These contributions are documented and valued as part of the overall past care analysis.
Frequently Asked Questions
What period does a past care valuation cover?
A past care valuation covers the period from the date of injury through to trial (or the date of assessment). It captures all care and support services that were required during this period as a direct result of the injury.
Can family-provided care be included even if no one was paid?
How is this different from a future care analysis?
What documentation is needed?
What can a lawyer do to assist with past care claims?
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