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The following information is designed to give you an outline of what you must do and how you can be compensated.
We have been deliberately brief and advise you to consult the following legislation for further details:
- French law N¡ 85-677 of 5th July 1985 published in the French "Journal Officiel" on 6th July 1985,
- French decree N¡ 86-15 of 6th January 1986 published in the French "Journal Officiel" on 7th January 1986.
The measures outlined are designed to improve accident victims circumstances where a land-based motorised vehicle, including any towed item or semi-articulated vehicle, is involved, with the exception of rail transport or tramway vehicles which are running on specially designated rails
° Non-compensation cases are limited by these measures. .
° An offer of compensation must be made by the insurance company within a period of eight months in the case of personal injury. If these measures have shown a real progress in favour of accident victims, in the real world, the problem of extremely complex procedures remains.
Throughout the whole compensation process a number of traps must be avoided.
A gross lack of information freely-available to victims means that compensation to accident victims is on average only one half of what it should be.
This is why it is extremely important to be informed of your rights by experienced specialists.
Who has a right to compensation? For personal injury:
Passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists who are victims of an accidents, except where the victim has:
- deliberately sought to cause injury to their person,
- made an inexcusable error which was the sole cause of the accident
However, this error cannot be attributed to the victim if the victim suffers permanent incapacity or invalidity equal to at least 80%.
Drivers of land-based motorised vehicles, except where they are responsible for the accidents (driver responsibility may limit or even cancel any right to compensation).
For material damages:
All victims where they are not proven responsible for the accident.
CAUTION ! Even if you receive compensation for your injuries, this does not stop you being obliged to compensate for damages caused to others if you are responsible for the accident.
Summary
The compensation process
1 - The insurance company acting for the person responsible for the accident contacts you,
2 - You give the information requested,
3 - Either you accept the offer made to you and the insurance company compensates you,
3 - Or you refuse the offer and then you must make a claim for compensation through the courts.
Summary
Who contacts you?
- In most cases, this is THE INSURER who guarantees the public liability of the vehicle involved in the accident.
If several vehicles are involved, one single insurer makes an offer in the name of all the insurance companies.
- THE OWNER of the vehicle if there is a dispensation to have to insure (State, RATP...).
- THE BUREAU CENTRAL FRAN‚AIS or its representative if it is a foreign vehicle (BP 27-93171 BAGNOLET CEDEX)
If the person responsible for the accident is unknown or not insured, you must make a claim to the "FONDS DE GARANTIE" (64 rue Defrance - 94307 VINCENNES CEDEX). When writing for the first time, you are asked to supply the following information to enable your claim to be registered.
You can:
- Be assisted by a lawyer of your choice
- Obtain, at no charge, a copy of any police or "gendarmerie" report .
Summary
You should forward to the insurer :
- Your surname and first name(s) ;
- Your date and place of birth ;
- Your profession and name and address of your employer(s) ;
- The amount of your professional income, together with any copies of paperwork justifying this ;
- Description of the injuries to your person, together with a copy of the initial medical certificate and any other proof in the case of consolidation,
- Description of damage caused to your property ;
- The names and addresses of any dependants at the time of accident ;
- Your social security number and the address of the social security office which deals with your file ;
- The list, including full address details, of organisations who top up your social security refunds ;
- A full postal address for all correspondence.
If the accident victim is deceased, the spouse and each of the heirs must forward to the insurance company :
- Their full surnames and first name(s) ;
- Their dates and place of birth ;
- The surname, first name(s) and address of the accident victim ;
- Their relationship to the victim ;
- Their professional activity and the address of any employer(s) ;
- The amount of professional income with any paperwork justifying this income ;
- The description of the damages, paying special attention to include expenses of any kind paid out in relation to the accident ;
- Your social security number and the address of the social security office which deals with your file ;
- The list, including full address details, of organisations who top up your social security refunds ;
- A full postal address for all correspondence.
You must reply to all these queries within a maximum period of six weeks.
If you delay with your reply, or reply with incomplete information, your compensation will also be delayed .
Summary
If you are invited to attend a medical examination.
You are notified at least fifteen (15) days before the medical examination :
• of the date and place of the medical examination ;
• the identity and the title of the doctor ;
• the reason for the medical examination ;
• The name of the insurance company requesting the medical examination.
You will receive a copy of the medical report within twenty (20) days.
You can :
• ask any doctor of your choice to attend the examination with you ;
• refuse to attend the medical examination if the information has not been forwarded to you with the regulatory notice ;
• refuse to allow yourself to be examined by the doctor chosen by the insurance company; in this case the insurance company can propose another doctor or ask the courts to nominate a doctor for them ;
• make your own request to the courts to nominate a doctor.
What you need to know about the medical examination : - The medical expert responsible for the examination is instructed by the insurance company who ultimately has to compensate you. It is our firm opinion that this process lacks neutrality.
Consequently, it is indispensable to obtain the help of a doctor who specialises in personal injury claims. This doctor will defend you by ensuring that all your damages and the consequences of these damages be taken into account. - The doctor who assists your claim will also be able to put in place certain measures designed to maintain your rights in the case of a deterioration of your case within a period of thirty (30) years (except where designated otherwise).
- The fees involved in obtaining the assistance of the doctor must be paid either by the insurance company acting for those responsible for the accident or by a legal assistance policy taken out elsewhere.
Summary
The refund of material and personal damages is subject to the degree of your responsibility in the accident. The degree of responsibility for a road accident is determined by the insurance companies (or a judge in the case of a legal procedure) based on the police or gendarmerie report or from the accident report made out by those involved in the accident. The responsibility can be modified or even reversed. Only a specialist can act in this case. .
- The sums paid out or to be paid out by the organisations involved in the compensation of your damages (social security, employers, insurance company's advance on final damages.....) ; a copy of the statements is attached to the offer.
If the accident is deemed to be an accident in the workplace (by the C.P.A.M. for the French system) the above organisations will demand a refund of their expenses, which will then be deducted from the items in your compensation .
This danger can be avoided !
Summary
Who should receive the offer of compensation ?
THE VICTIM (In most cases),
THE HEIRS AND THE SPOUSE (in case of mortality),
THE LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE, and depending on the case, THE FAMILY JUDGE or the BOARD OF GUARDIANS if the victim is under the age of majority or over the age of majority but recognised as incapable.
WHAT YOU MUST DO
When you receive the offer, you can :
• ACCEPT.
Within fifteen (15) days of your agreement, you can indicate this in a registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt.
If you are acting on behalf of a person under the age of majority or of a person over the age of majority but recognised as incapable, you require the agreement of the family judge or the board of guardians. .
• DISCUSS THE OFFER.
Amicable negotiation with the insurance company acting on behalf of the person responsible for the accident is an unavoidable element of the claim process if equitable compensation is to be obtained.
The discussion must be based on solid argument and the best examples of previous cases available. Only an expert has this information to hand. .
• REFUSE.
You can:
- Apply for compensation through the courts
- Claim damages where the offer is obviously insufficient
- In all cases you should notify the insurance company who made the offer of compensation of your decision.
CAUTION! You must inform your social security health organisation of any transaction concluded with the insurer or of any court action undertaken.
Summary
When do you receive compensation ?
You are compensated :
- within a maximum of forty five (45) days following the agreement with the insurance company
- Where there is a court action, on the result of this.
Summary
PRACTICAL ADVICE
You can entrust the defence of your interests to any person of your choice.
In the case of a court action, a barrister must represent you before the "Tribunal de Grande Instance" (in France).
When you send your sickness benefit papers to the Social Security, make sure you write on that it is an accident and indicate the date.
Make up your file and keep the original or where this is not possible, a copy, of every medical paper, the Social Security statements of refunds, all justification of your expenses as well as a copy of all correspondence.
You must send to the insurance company all the papers justifying the damages you have suffered...
You can take advice from specialists, insurance brokers or agents, lawyers, legal advisors, doctors... However, all fees involved in obtaining the help of these experts remains your responsibility except where you have legal expense cover or legal assistance insurance in case of a court case.
Watch closely the dates so that you can accelerate the conclusion of your file.
In particular, if within one month of the accident you have had no contact from the insurer acting on behalf of the person responsible for the accident, you must contact them.
Summary
COMMENTS
The measures put into place by legislation are designed to reduce the number of court cases and to speed up the compensation process for accident victims.
However, at any point in the process you have the possibility of :
• Requesting a court hearing (an urgent procedure to obtain an advance on compensation), particularly if there is a persistent lack of action on the part of the insurer acting for the person responsible for the accident ;
• requesting the intervention of the judge where there is persistent disagreement about:
- the rate of responsibility
- the inexcusable nature of the error
- the amount of the compensation offer ,
• starting a court case either in association with the public prosecutor or otherwise against those who you deem to be responsible for the accident .
Summary THE EFFICIENCY OF OUR SERVICES IS JUDGED PURELY AND SIMPLY BY THE RESULTS OBTAINED! |
