Do Married People Receive Higher Settlement Amounts?
Chris Finney, Trial Attorney
In our experience, the insurance companies look at this as two separate claims. What we’re really talking about is:
- you have the injured party on one end
- then you have the spouse on the other end
Loss of Consortium
The claim for the spouse is loss of consortium. That’s when you have an injured party, and their spouse has a claim as well. Because the person they married, the injured person is no longer the same due to someone else’s negligence. So under the law, you, the spouse, have a claim as well.
Typically our attorneys don’t bring loss of consortium claims unless there is a pretty catastrophic loss and the spouse has been significantly impaired due to the injuries, injuries that resulted in serious surgeries, or brain injuries.
So as a whole, generally, married couples will receive a larger settlement because they have a larger value of loss. But, in a typical car crash case, you’re not really going to have a loss of consortium claim. It’s not going to be there because the severity of the injury most likely won’t support such a claim.
So we typically make a decision either not to bring it or to refer it out somewhere else. But there are also strategic reasons why you would bring a loss of consortium claim if the case is going to trial.
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