Collateral Sources are contractual obligations to make payments on a continuing basis as offsets against claimed elements of loss. A Collateral Source cannot be one that gives rise to a statutory lien in favor of the person providing the payment. The only material condition to payment of a Collateral Source should be the continued payment of ongoing maintenance costs (premiums, etc.). The most common offset element seems to be Social Security Survival Benefits.

There are references in the statutes to Care and Custodial Care. It would seem that if the provider has any discretion in what and how it will be provided, those would be additional material conditions. The same seems true for offsets that might start at some point in the future.

Offsets are normally dealt with in the valuation process, and are not considered by the jury. There are references in Court decisions to inclusion of past Collateral Source offsets in past damages. They are included in the Award section to provide a complete picture. Offsets are accessed as the third item on the list after 'Pre-Award' and 'Award'. There is a list of Offset elements with a blank, and selection of the element will recall the components of any stored Offset.

• First payment date
• First payment amount
• The number of years and months over which payments are to be made.
• Ongoing maintenance costs (they will be applied against the first payment amount for a net offset)
• An annual COLA rate to be applied after the first payment
• Maintenance costs for the Offset during the two years prior to the event of loss.

The period over which an offset will be applied should be the lesser of the expected period of payment for the offset or the related loss element.