compensation and damages after a traffic accident
For Social Assistance, 40% of the lump-sum personal injury compensation for as assets.
On July 23, 1999, a man was left 72% disabled in a traffic accident.
The insurer AMEV—which was, incidentally, only partially liable—made a total personal injury payout of €57,268.90 in connection therewith
An amount of €2,268.90 was intended for direct material damages. An amount of €55,000.00 was paid for other personal injury damages and non-pecuniary damages.
settlement of assistance with non-pecuniary damages
The Municipal Social Assistance Department subsequently determined that 40% of this compensation for pain and suffering counted as assets under the Social Assistance Act. This meant that an amount of €22,000.00 was still considered assets. In 1999, the asset exemption for a single person was €4,472.27, so according to the Municipality, the man received €17,527.73 too much in social assistance.
For this reason, the municipality stated, the man was not entitled to social assistance from July 23, 1999—the date of the accident—until October 31, 2001. Therefore, he was required to repay the sum of €17,527.73 to the Social Assistance Fund.
the pronunciation
The Central Appeals Tribunal agreed with the Municipality. The severity of the consequences of the accident the man suffered, in conjunction with the amount of compensation received, did not alter this. This was also due to the nature of social assistance as a last resort, according to the Central Appeals Tribunal.
The man then argued that the date on which the allocation of assets began – July 23, 1999 – could not be considered correct. However, according to the Central Appeals Tribunal, it is established case law that this period begins on the date of the accident. This can only be changed if there are sufficient, objectively based reasons to assume that the claims should be allocated to a later period. This was not the case here.
From that date, the Social Assistance Agency calculated the period for which undue payments were made and thus arrived at a recovery period from 23 July 1999 to 31 October 2001.
lump sum personal injury compensation
The above is partly due to the fact that a lump-sum payment was chosen in this case. This is a generally described lump-sum payment for personal injury and non-pecuniary damages suffered and to be suffered. In this case, allocation over a specific period is also not easily possible.
debt sharing due to liability
Another argument the man made was the division of the debt. Because of this division of the debt, he only received €55,000 in compensation instead of €82,500. If he had received the full compensation for pain and suffering, he would have been entitled to keep a larger amount, he argued. However, this argument did little to change the Central Appeals Tribunal's mind.
waiving recovery for urgent reasons
In principle, recovery should be waived for "urgent reasons." However, no "urgent reasons" were deemed present in the man's case. He must therefore repay €17,527.73 in social assistance, bringing his total compensation for pain and suffering to only €37,472.27 instead of €55,000.00.
conclusion: not a completely fair outcome
Although all of this appears to have been fully in accordance with the law and regulations, it must have been a harsh blow for a 72% disabled and single man with no other means of obtaining income.
(Central Appeals Tribunal | May 17, 2011 | 09/3410 WWB | read the full ruling here)
About the author
The information on this page was written by Floris de Bruin, a specialist in liability and personal injury. The content of this page fully complies with the requirements of the National Quality Mark for Personal Injury (NKL).
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When can I claim personal injury damages?
You can claim damages for personal injury if you have suffered an injury (been injured) due to the fault of another person
Personal injury can be caused by, for example:
In addition, you may think of injuries sustained during:
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- unsafe product or
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It's best not to wait too long to file a personal injury claim. It's best to do so immediately after the accident.
Even if it is not yet clear at that time what your injury and its financial consequences consist of.
However, someone else must liable and must have taken out liability insurance for this (AVP/AVB/WA).
However, even if you caused the accident yourself, you can sometimes still claim compensation for personal injury. For example, if you SVI (Passenger Injury Insurance) or SVO (Opzittende Inschadende).
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What injuries do you treat?
We can actually help you with all types of personal injury
Van der Toorn Personal Injury can help you with all types of injuries. We specialize in handling "serious personal injuries," such as:
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- cosmetic injury.
But of course, we are also very happy to be there for you if someone else has sustained an injury. Such as neck injuries, whiplash, back injuries, bruises, sprains, dog bites, temporary injuries, and you name it.
We cannot help with all types of personal injury
The only thing we cannot help you with is personal injury caused by:
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- situations of abuse.
In that situation, we will of course refer you to a party that is specialized in this.
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But what is: as quickly as possible?
Sometimes an insurance company will contact you very shortly after the accident. They'll ask how you're doing and also ask for all sorts of other information.
You cannot know whether that insurer is asking “too many questions” from a legal perspective. About your health before the accident and which doctors you visited. You would rather avoid that, wouldn't you? So never wait too long to engage a personal injury firm.
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What personal injury compensation amounts am I entitled to?
The personal injury compensation amounts you are entitled to are:
Allowances for additional assistance, such as:
- household help, shopping, taking children to school, etc.
- help in the garden and
- help with the maintenance and painting of your home.
In addition, your personal injury may have consequences for your income, such as:
- income that is not fully paid (self-employed person, temporary worker, zero-hour contract, etc.)
- no more irregular hours allowance
- no longer being able to work overtime
- missed promotions and
- missed pension accrual
Finally, you can consider other equally important personal injury compensation amounts, such as:
- Study delay
- Reintegration costs for guidance to other work
- Costs associated with admission to a hospital or rehabilitation center
- Travel expenses
- Medical expenses
- Non-pecuniary damages
- Economic vulnerability
- Statutory interest
- Furthermore, all costs that you would not have incurred without the accident…
- For example, the wages you did not receive because you could not go to work.
- Gasoline because you had to go to the hospital or the physiotherapist.
- Medicines that were covered by your deductible.
In addition, you are always entitled to compensation for pain and suffering, also known as non-material damages.
This is compensation for "loss of enjoyment of life." Your damages should compensate you for your grief, pain, and anything else that might have made you less happy than before the accident.
Unfortunately, Dutch law is not generous in awarding damages for pain and suffering. Therefore, the amounts awarded in the Netherlands are not considered "fair enough.".
If you'd like to learn more about non-pecuniary damages, click here. If you'd like to learn more about personal injury damages, click here.
Calculating non-pecuniary damages
Calculating non-pecuniary damages:
You are always entitled to compensation for pain and suffering. This is the "non-pecuniary component" of your personal injury compensation.
What is non-pecuniary damages?
Pain and suffering compensation is not in itself a “hard legal term”. It is compensation for damage that cannot be expressed in monetary terms.
So, everything that doesn't fall under additional costs or lost income. It's essentially compensation for your "mental damage.".
How to calculate non-pecuniary damages
People often ask us at the very beginning of their personal injury case how much compensation they are entitled to.
That question is actually impossible to answer. And any personal injury lawyer who claims otherwise is mistaken.
When can you calculate my non-pecuniary damages?
Your compensation for pain and suffering can only be definitively determined at the end of your personal injury case.
Only then will it be known what psychological consequences your injury has had and/or will have for you.
Because it is the psychological consequences that largely determine your compensation for non-pecuniary damages.
Important factors in calculating non-pecuniary damages
Important factors for calculating your non-pecuniary damages include:
- the nature of your injury
- the severity of your injury
- your age
- your gender
- your level of consciousness
- whether you will have permanent scars and where those scars are located
- whether you have physical limitations that affect your quality of life
- how much pain have you suffered and continue to suffer
- how long your recovery period was and
- whether you have recovered at all or whether there is permanent damage.
Indication calculation of non-pecuniary damages:
We cannot predict exactly how much your compensation for non-pecuniary damages will be.
What we can do is give you a general indication of the amount of your compensation for pain and suffering.
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