by Laura Weir, MA and Jody Prevost
The cost of hiring assistance with household services such as housecleaning, repairs, and yard care, may form a significant component of the damages for a personal injury or fatal accident claim. To assist in estimating a reasonable cost for these services, Economica has conducted periodic surveys of service providers in Alberta since 1997. The results of our latest survey, taken in December 2023 and January 2024, are discussed below.
Why use the rates of professional service providers rather than wage rates?
Before discussing the findings of our latest survey, we should discuss why the rates of professional service providers may be preferred when estimating a plaintiff’s future care costs, or a survivor’s dependency on their late spouse’s services, rather than the wage rates for people employed as cleaners, handymen, landscapers, and so forth.
It is our understanding that the goal of estimating a plaintiff’s loss arising from a reduced ability to perform household services is to return a plaintiff to their pre-accident enjoyment of their home. To do this, the plaintiff must be able to replace the services they are no longer able to perform due to their injuries (or that their deceased spouse would have otherwise performed) and therefore, the plaintiff will need to be provided with sufficient funds to hire a third party to perform this work. This means providing the cost to hire, say, Molly Maids or Yardworx (i.e., a professional service), or providing the full cost to hire an employee. That is, to hire an employee to perform household services, the plaintiff would need to pay the hourly wage plus all statutory fees (such as contributions to the employment insurance and Canada Pension Plan programs), additional insurance (such as coverage through the Workers’ Compensation Board), other employee benefits such as vacation/holiday pay (typically equal to between four and six percent of base pay), and fees for hiring/payroll services. In summary, if the goal is to allow the plaintiff to replace the lost/required services, they will need to be provided with the professional rate.
A quick note on the efficiency of professional services
When discussing the replacement of household services, we need to adjust for the efficiency of professional services – that is, that a professional will require less time than the plaintiff to perform the same amount of work. The available information suggests that this differential is approximately 25% – i.e., a professional will require 45 minutes to complete the same work done by the plaintiff in an hour. The adjustment for this efficiency may be applied in two equivalent ways.
When performing this calculation, Economica typically applies the 25% adjustment to the hours of service that require replacement as this is consistent with the premise discussed above – that a professional will require less time than the plaintiff to perform the same chores. Thus, a plaintiff that has lost 10 hours of housecleaning will require approximately 7.5 (= 10 × [1 – 0.25]) hours of professional assistance, at a rate of $33 per hour, for a loss of $247.50 (= $33 × 7.5).
An equivalent calculation would be to apply the efficiency adjustment to the hourly cost. That is, in the above example, the plaintiff has lost 10 hours of housecleaning at a rate of $24.75 (= $33 × [1 – 0.25]), for a loss of $247.50 (= $24.75 × 10).
The household services costs discussed below do not include an efficiency adjustment, nor do they include GST.
The Data
In collecting information regarding the cost of meal preparation, yard care (such as snow removal and lawn care), handyman services (for maintenance and repair work), housecleaning, and childcare, Ms. Prevost contacted providers in Calgary and Edmonton (Alberta’s two largest cities) as well as Red Deer and Lethbridge (to reflect smaller centres). Due to difficulties receiving responses from providers in Lethbridge, only those from Red Deer, Calgary, and Edmonton will be discussed.
With respect to the information requested, quotes were sought as follows:
- Yard Care: Assuming a typical residential lot with detached house, front and back yards, two-car driveway, and city sidewalk.
- Handyman services: Replacement of fence boards, cleaning/repair of gutters, and exterior paint touch-ups (such as railings and trim).
- Housecleaning: Assuming an 1,800 square-foot home with stairs and front entry.
- Homecare services: Assuming meal preparation for an individual injured in an accident who was recuperating at home.
- Childcare services: Services from an individual with some first aid/CPR training and own vehicle.
Quotes were obtained through internet contacts such as using an agency’s contact form, listings on services such as Kijiji or nannyservices.ca, or emailing providers directly. Outliers were omitted from the calculations (i.e., quotes at rates significantly above or below the other quotes). With respect to the number of quotes used in this survey:
- Calgary:
- Meal preparation: Six in-home service providers.
- Snow removal: 18 providers offering monthly services and five providers offering individual visits. The single visit services were significantly higher than the monthly services and for the purposes of the survey, the monthly rates were used (adjusted to a per-visit cost by assuming 22 visits would be required over the four-month winter season).
Lawn care: 17 providers offering weekly lawn care. - Handyman services: 20 providers offering hourly rates.
- Housecleaning: 11 providers offering hourly rates and 10 providers offering weekly services.
- Childcare: 16 providers offering services on an hourly basis and 20 quotes each from live-in and live-out nanny services. Monthly daycare rates were reviewed but not used.
- Edmonton:
- Meal preparation: Six in-home service providers.
- Snow removal: 18 providers offering monthly services and five providers offering individual visits.
- Lawn care: Nine providers offering weekly lawn care.
- Handyman services: 20 providers offering hourly rates.
- Housecleaning: 18 providers offering hourly rates.
- Childcare: 20 quotes each from providers offering services on an hourly basis and from live-in and live-out nanny services. Monthly daycare rates were reviewed but not used.
- Red Deer:
- Meal preparation: Three in-home service providers.
- Snow removal: Seven providers offering monthly services and four providers offering individual visits.
Lawn care: 10 providers offering weekly lawn care. - Handyman services: 10 providers offering hourly rates.
- Housecleaning: 10 providers offering hourly rates.
- Childcare: 10 quotes each from providers offering services on an hourly basis and from live-in and live-out nanny services. Monthly daycare rates were reviewed but not used.
While not used for the purposes of this survey, there were a relatively large number of firms offering pre-made meal services, both ready-to-eat and meals one would cook themselves. That is, the plaintiff would choose the meals (for example, lasagne, meatloaf, and so forth) and the service would prepare and deliver them. Omitting the meals that require cooking, and assuming that ingredients account for approximately half of the fee, the service charge for meal prepping services (at three meals per day) ranged between approximately $22 and $23 per day. Of course, this service would require that the plaintiff live in a town/city where such firms are present.
The Results
The average hourly costs for the services discussed above, adjusted to the nearest dollar, are shown in the table below.
Table 1: Survey Results
Proposal
While the rate applicable to each city may be used for plaintiffs who reside in that city, overall, we propose that the following reflects a reasonable estimate of the hourly cost for each service:
- Meal preparation, shopping: $25 per hour,
- Housecleaning: $33 per hour,
- Maintenance, repair: $38 per hour,
- Lawn care, snow removal: $41 per hour,
- Childcare: $22 per hour.