You are the victim of an accident and you are injured as a result. That is of course annoying enough. You have a lot coming your way. And there is also a lot to consider when reporting personal injury.
Who pays for your damage?
If you are the victim of an accident caused by someone else (for example a collision) or for which someone else is responsible (for example an industrial accident), then that person is liable for your damage. They call them the opposing party. If the counterparty is insured, then the insurance company is liable. A legal company will then send the insurance company a letter in which they explain why they think it should pay for your damage. In some cases your own insurance will reimburse the damage and in some cases the counterparty itself (for example if he or she is not insured).
What can you expect?
- Your representative will visit you to meet you and see how you are doing since the accident. What is your injury? What do you encounter in everyday life? What is your damage? And how can this company help you?
- The legal company will find out for you who is liable and where that person is insured. The legal company then holds the insurance company liable. If she acknowledges liability, she will pay your (injury) damage.
- The company requests (with your permission) medical information about your injury from your practitioners (such as: the hospital, the physiotherapist, general practitioner or psychologist).
- The claims adjuster (a field employee of the insurance company) will visit you to see how you are doing and what your damage is. Your representative is present.
- The legal company will then send the medical information to the medical advisor and the medical advisor of the insurance company. These are doctors who separately examine whether the injury is caused by the accident and what the consequences are.
- The labor expert will visit you if you are unable to work for a long time due to the injury. What makes you unable to perform your work (properly)? What work can you perform? And what do you need for that?
- Once you’ve recovered, the insurance company settles your case. They will then ensure that you receive compensation to which you are entitled.
- If you have recovered quickly, you will usually not have to deal with all parties and not all steps will be completed. If your injury is permanent, you will have to deal with other experts and the process will look a bit different. Your representative will inform you about this and support you in this.
Compensation for the damage
You often have damage after an accident. This damage is compensated by the insurance company if they acknowledge the liability. During the process, your representative requests advance payments. They keep a damage statement that contains all costs that you incur and will incur as a result of the accident. Because not everyone can advance those costs themselves, the insurance company does this. Your representative will request these advances for you. The legal company keeps a damage statement that contains all costs that you incur and will incur as a result of the accident. Your representative will also ensure that these fees are credited to your account as soon as possible, so that you do not get into financial trouble.
The help of a personal injury lawyer (Dutch: letselschade advocaat) is a service and must be paid for by the person who purchases the service. It is therefore customary for the person who purchases the service to pay the costs for this. In principle, the injury victim must therefore bear his own costs.
In a number of countries, the right to free legal aid in the event of personal injury is included in the law. This is the case in the Netherlands, among others. For example, if you are hit by a bicycle as a cyclist (in Dutch: fietser aangereden), you are entitled to free assistance from a personal injury lawyer.
