Personal Injuries 

They concern damages that are not clear monetary claims and relate to the pain and suffering that the injured person has suffered as a consequence of the accident, as well as to the loss of comfort and pleasures of life. These claims should be compensated in money as best as money can provide. The injured person is entitled to a fair and reasonable compensation for all his injuries and not for each injury separately. Monetary compensations do not restore the health of the victim of the civil tort of negligence. Therefore, they are not a perfect remedy; but they are the best known remedy. Where injuries cause permanent disability and impairment of human function, damages are valued on a long-term perspective. Where, as a result of the injuries, the ability to work is reduced, the compensation is commensurate with the loss that can reasonably be expected to occur.

General damages can be awarded for losses that have not yet crystallised, such as loss of future earnings, future medical care, future home care costs, etc.

These are damages that involve a clear amount of money, which must be documented and proven in order to obtain compensation. Such damages relate to the actual costs already incurred by the injured person as a consequence of the negligent act. Such costs include car damage, physiotherapy, medical certificates, lost wages, etc.
The injured person is obliged not only to provide exact proof of the special damage caused to him/her, but also to prove that such costs were reasonable.

In fatal accidents, the person who would have been liable for the civil offence if death had not followed, will be liable to pay damages despite the death. Such damages shall relate to compensation for the benefit of the estate of the deceased and for the benefit of his dependants.

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1. Compensation for the benefit of the deceased's estate

These concern special damages which were established before the death and are generally limited.

The following recoverable losses are part of the deceased's estate and are distributed to the heirs in accordance with the instructions in the will or the relevant legal provisions.

A strict proof of them is needed and they relate to the following:

• Damage to the deceased's vehicle (for road traffic accidents)

• Loss of wages (for the period between the accident and death, if the death was not instantaneous)

• Pain and suffering(from the day the claim is made until death, if the death was not instantaneous)

• For reduction of life span (if the death was not instantaneous and the deceased knew that his or her life span had been reduced)

• Medical and hospitalisation expenses

• Expenses for issuing medical certificates

• Funeral and administration expenses​

2. Compensations for the benefit of the deceased's dependants
Dependants include, but are not limited to, the spouse, any child or other descendant, any parent or other ascendant and any brother or sister, uncle or aunt, of the deceased.

To be entitled to compensation, the aforementioned must prove that they had a reasonable expectation of financial benefit from the deceased, i.e. that they were financially dependent on the deceased.

Also for the benefit of the dependants, damages may be awarded for loss of services of the mother and/or spouse and for loss of motherly love, care and custody.
3. Bereavement Compensation 
A lump sum of €17,806 is awarded to the spouse of the deceased or the spouse of the deceased and their children, if there is no spouse or children to the parents of the deceased.

The above amount is divided equally among the beneficiaries.

This compensation does not exclude the possibility of claiming compensation if the loss occurred in such circumstances as to cause nervous shock to certain people.

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Nervous shock is not about the sadness or grief which might be caused by an unpleasant event, since such emotions are not actionable. It does, however, concern a psychiatric or neurological illness resulting from a serious and unpleasant event. It does not concern fear of something that may happen in the future. Damage or loss must have occurred for such damages to be awarded.

A distinction is made between persons who are primary victims in the accident and secondary victims.

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Primary victims are those directly involved in the accident and are those to which the duty of care of the negligent tortfeasor is owed. The victim will be entitled to compensation regardless of whether the injury was only physical or nervous or both and regardless of whether the perpetrator could not reasonably foresee that the victim would suffer only a nervous shock. It is sufficient that any injury was foreseeable.

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A secondary victim is anyone who was close to the scene of the accident and has not suffered a physical injury, the indirect victim, who witnessed or was informed of the incident and his/her nervous shock was a consequence of what he/she heard and saw. For this category of victims there are safeguards in place because there is a risk of excessive and unlimited liability on the part of the perpetrator. The perpetrator's liability is based on the fact that it was foreseeable that the third person would suffer nervous trauma because of his proximity to the incident, or to the immediate aftermath of the incident, and certainly because of his relationship with the primary victim of the accident.