When someone is seriously injured, the harm doesn’t stop with the injured person. A spouse loses companionship, partnership, intimacy, and the help their husband or wife used to provide. New Jersey law recognizes this through a separate claim — loss of consortium, sometimes called a per quod claim — that belongs to the uninjured spouse in their own right.
What loss of consortium actually covers
A loss-of-consortium claim compensates the spouse of an injured person for the losses they suffer because of the injury to their partner. In New Jersey, that traditionally includes the loss of:
- Companionship and society — the shared life and partnership the marriage provided.
- Services — the everyday help a spouse used to contribute (household work, care, support).
- Affection and intimacy — the marital relationship harmed by the injury.
It is, in effect, the law’s recognition that a catastrophic injury to one person can devastate the life of the person married to them.
When these claims arise
Loss-of-consortium claims generally accompany the most serious injury cases — the ones where a spouse’s life genuinely changes:
- Catastrophic car, truck, and motorcycle crashes.
- Severe premises and construction injuries.
- Traumatic brain injuries and spinal injuries that alter a person permanently.
- Cases involving long recoveries, permanent disability, or the need for ongoing care.
How it fits into the larger case
Because the consortium claim is derivative, it rises and falls with the injured spouse’s case — including the same defenses. New Jersey’s comparative-negligence rules apply, so if the injured spouse’s recovery is reduced for their share of fault, the consortium claim is affected too. In auto cases, the verbal threshold can also come into play. And the same two-year personal-injury deadline generally governs, which is one reason both claims are usually filed together.
Why it shouldn’t be overlooked
Loss of consortium is easy to leave on the table — an injured person focused on their own recovery may not realize their spouse has a claim at all. In a serious case, it’s a real and separate component of the family’s total recovery, and a firm building the case properly should account for it from the start.
Did a serious injury change your family’s life?
If your husband or wife was badly hurt by someone else’s negligence, the impact on your marriage may itself be compensable. We’ll evaluate both the injured spouse’s claim and the consortium claim together, so nothing the family is owed gets overlooked. The consultation is free.
Part of our complete guide: For every related New Jersey offense, claim, and defense in one place, see our NJ Personal Injury Guide.