Traffic is getting busier. This also increases the chance of an accident. But what to do if you are involved in a traffic accident? How do you recover personal injury and which damage items are eligible for compensation? You can read it in this blog.
Claim compensation after a traffic accident
You are cycling to work when you are hit by a car while cycling. You suffer injuries as a result of this bicycle accident (Dutch: fietsongeluk) and are unable to perform your work temporarily or for a longer period of time. Income damage then occurs. Or is hit from behind by another car, resulting in whiplash complaints. Who is liable and which damage items are eligible for compensation? Are these only material damage items or is compensation for damages (Dutch: smartengeld) also eligible?
What to do after a traffic accident?
If you have been involved in a traffic accident, you will naturally want to claim compensation from the party at fault for the collision. This is, for example, the person who rides behind you in the event of a rear-end collision or chain collision. But how do you recover damages after a traffic accident and what should you think about if you have been hit by a car?
You can of course hire a personal injury lawyer to claim your personal injury compensation from the liable person. This lawyer specialized in personal injury will hold the other party liable and recover your damages. But the personal injury lawyer does need information from you for this. That is why it is important that you always complete a collision damage form. You can enter important information here.
On a claim form you can indicate who you think is at fault in the event of a collision. But the details of both parties can also be entered on the collision form, as well as the injuries you sustained as a result of the collision.
Has the cause of the collision been established? Then your personal injury lawyer will recover the damages resulting from the bicycle accident or car accident from the liable person. This person is often insured and the damage will therefore be recovered from this liability insurance.
Which damage items are reimbursed?
Personal injury consists of 2 main groups of damage, namely material damage and emotional damages. When you think of material damage, you may mainly think of damage to the car or bicycle. But material damage means that the damage can be valued in monetary terms. So where do broadside collisions most commonly occur? These collisions typically happen at intersections, where one vehicle fails to yield the right of way to another.
Material damage is therefore also the loss of income that you suffer as a result of a traffic accident. Because you can become incapacitated due to a collision. But not only at work, you can also suffer damage at home as a result of the accident. For example, because you are limited in performing household tasks or because you have to outsource garden maintenance or home maintenance due to a traffic accident.
Compensation for damages cannot be valued in monetary terms. It is compensation for the suffering caused to you by the traffic accident. This includes pain complaints, anxiety complaints such as fear of traffic, sadness and psychological injuries caused by the traffic accident.
You can therefore claim many different damages if you have been hit by a bicycle or car. It is therefore important that you prove that the other party is at fault in the traffic accident. A personal injury lawyer can help you with this.