Material damage: How to realistically assess the damage?
Property damage refers to the property loss you have suffered as a result of an accident. Most often it is damage to the car itself, but it also includes destroyed items in the vehicle (e.g. phone, laptop, child seat), as well as the costs of the towing service.
- Inspection report: After the police have carried out an investigation (or after you have completed a European Road Accident Report for minor damage), the at-fault party's insurance company must carry out an assessment of the damage to your vehicle.
- The “total damage” trap: Insurance companies often declare a "total loss" because it pays them more to pay you the estimated value of the rest of the vehicle than the actual repair. In this case, the lawyer can hire an independent traffic expert who will determine the real market value and the cost of repairs.
- Lost benefit: If you use the car for work (taxi, delivery, commercial work), you have the right to compensation for the wages you lost during the period while the vehicle was being repaired.
2. Non-material damage: Monetary compensation for physical and mental pain
Non-material damage is compensation for mental and physical suffering suffered. All participants in an accident who have suffered injuries are entitled to this compensation, including the driver who was not at fault, passengers, passengers on public transport or pedestrians.
Insurance companies generally offer minimum "flat-rate" amounts, while by hiring a lawyer before the court or through reasoned objections, significantly higher amounts can be obtained for the following types of damage:
- Physical pain suffered: Intensity and duration of pain due to injuries (from light ones such as whiplash injuries to severe fractures).
- Fear suffered: The fear you felt at the very moment of the accident (primary fear), as well as subsequent fear and anxiety during treatment (secondary fear).
- Decrease in general life activity: If the injuries have left permanent consequences that prevent you from engaging in sports, hobbies or daily activities in the way you did before the accident.
- Damage (Aesthetic Damage): Compensation for permanent scars, deformities or changes to the body caused by injuries or operations.
Key Steps Immediately After an Accident (Golden Rules for Billing)
Non-material damage is compensation for mental and physical suffering suffered. All participants in an accident who have suffered injuries are entitled to this compensation, including the driver who was not at fault, passengers, passengers on public transport or pedestrians.
Insurance companies generally offer minimum "flat-rate" amounts, while by hiring a lawyer before the court or through reasoned objections, significantly higher amounts can be obtained for the following types of damage:
- Call the police and emergency services: The official police report is the basic document that proves who is to blame for the accident.
- Go to your doctor NOW: Even if you feel fine, adrenaline can mask injuries (such as neck injuries or internal bleeding). The medical report from the Emergency Center or emergency service, with the date of the accident, is the key evidence for non-material damage. If you see a doctor only after a few days, the insurance will claim that the injury did not occur in an accident.
- Keep all documentation: Collect medical reports, receipts for medications purchased, towing service receipts, and all rehab instructions.
- Do not sign the first insurance quote without consulting: Insurance companies are driven by their own profits. Their first out-of-court compensation offers are almost always many times lower than what you are entitled to by law and case law. By signing that offer, you usually waive your right to further billing.
How does a lawyer help you?
The procedure for collecting damages can be resolved by an out-of-court settlement (through negotiations and objections to insurance) or by court. The lawyer takes over all communication with the insurance companies, organizes independent expert reports by medical and traffic experts, and files a lawsuit if the insurance refuses to pay a fair amount.
Most important of all - most lawyers in these proceedings work on a percentage of the collected damages, which means that you do not have upfront costs, but you pay the lawyer only when you successfully collect the insurance money.
