Personal injury

It is strongly recommended. The medical assessment sets the medical findings that determine compensation. Being assisted by a lawyer and a victims' medical adviser helps ensure that every head of loss is claimed.

Ten years from the consolidation of the initial or worsened injury, that is, from when the victim's condition has stabilised. Some specific schemes have other deadlines, so it is best to seek advice early.

In practice, compensation follows the so-called Dintilhac classification. It distinguishes financial losses (medical costs, loss of earnings, impact on career, adapted housing or vehicle costs, third-party assistance) and non-financial losses (pain and suffering, temporary and permanent functional impairment, aesthetic damage, loss of amenity, sexual harm, etc.). The victim's relatives may also be compensated for their own losses.

Consolidation is the point, set by the medical expert, at which the injuries have stabilised and become permanent, so that treatment is no longer needed except to prevent deterioration. It allows the permanent after-effects to be assessed and marks the start of the ten-year period for bringing a personal injury claim.

The Act of 5 July 1985 (the Badinter Act) governs compensation for victims of traffic accidents involving a motor vehicle. The insurer of the vehicle involved must make an offer within deadlines set by the Insurance Code: no later than eight months after the accident, possibly on a provisional basis, then a final offer within five months of being informed of consolidation. A late or manifestly inadequate offer is penalised by increased interest.

Official source: Service-Public.fr (official page)

Victims who were not driving (pedestrians, cyclists, passengers) are compensated for personal injury unless they committed an inexcusable fault that was the sole cause of the accident, or deliberately sought the harm; victims under 16, over 70 or severely disabled can only be denied compensation if they deliberately sought the harm. For a driver who is a victim, their own fault may limit or exclude compensation; the driver cover in their own insurance policy may then apply.

Official source: Service-Public.fr (official page)

Nothing obliges you to accept the first offer. It is worth comparing it, head of loss by head of loss, with the amounts usually awarded by the courts, after a medical assessment at which the victim is assisted by their own medical adviser. After a traffic accident, the victim may withdraw from a settlement concluded with the insurer within fifteen days. Failing agreement, the court can be seised.

For traffic accidents, the Guarantee Fund for Compulsory Damage Insurance (FGAO) compensates victims where the person responsible is uninsured or unidentified or their insurer is insolvent, under the conditions and time limits set by law. Victims of criminal offences can apply for compensation to the crime victims' compensation commission (CIVI).

Official source: Service-Public.fr (official page)

A victim of an offence that caused serious injury (total incapacity for work of at least one month or permanent after-effects), or of certain particularly serious offences such as sexual violence, can apply to the crime victims' compensation commission (CIVI), which sits at the judicial court. The application must in principle be made within three years of the offence, extended to one year after the last decision of the criminal court. Payment is made by the guarantee fund (FGTI).

Official source: Service-Public.fr (official page)

Where the harm results from a fault by a health professional or establishment, the victim can obtain compensation from them and their insurer. Where it results from a therapeutic hazard without fault, it can be compensated by national solidarity (ONIAM) if it reaches a certain level of severity. The conciliation and compensation commission (CCI) can be seised free of charge. The claim is time-barred ten years after consolidation.

Permanent functional impairment compensates the permanent reduction in the victim's physical, mental or intellectual capacity after consolidation, together with the resulting permanent pain and loss of quality of life. The medical expert expresses it as a percentage, which is then converted into a sum of money according to the rate and the victim's age: the younger the victim, the higher the compensation for the same rate.

Yes. The insurer may pay interim amounts pending final compensation, and must do so after a traffic accident when consolidation has not yet occurred. Otherwise, the victim can ask the summary judge for an interim payment where the obligation to compensate is not seriously disputable. These advances help cover costs during the treatment period.

Yes. Indirect victims (spouse, children, parents and, more broadly, people with a close emotional bond) can obtain compensation for their emotional harm, loss of income and expenses incurred, both where the victim dies and where the victim survives with a disability. Each relative must prove their own loss.

Loss of professional earnings is compensated for the period before consolidation and, if the after-effects prevent the victim from resuming work on the same terms, for the future, together with any impact on career (greater hardship, reduced value on the job market). Benefits paid by social security bodies and the employer are deducted head of loss by head of loss, as those bodies have their own recourse against the person liable.

Yes. The need for third-party assistance is compensated according to the number of hours required, whether the help is provided by a professional or by a relative. According to settled case law, the award cannot be reduced on the ground that assistance is provided by a family member.

Not in principle: the occupational accident and disease scheme provides lump-sum compensation through social security. However, recognition of the employer's inexcusable fault allows an increased pension and compensation for additional losses. Where the accident is caused by a third party, for example a vehicle during a commute, a claim against that third party can also be brought.

Yes. If the victim's condition worsens after compensation, a new claim can be made for the new loss, usually after a fresh medical assessment. The ten-year limitation period then runs from the consolidation of the worsening. It is therefore important to keep the complete medical file.