Traffic accident lawyers in Málaga

If you have a vehicle and you are driving it, you are exposed to the risk of suffering a traffic accident, which is why it is of vital importance how to act if you have suffered an accident and have sustained minor injuries. This type of accident accounts for the highest percentage of accidents on our roads.

Beforehand, we would like to inform you that you do not have the duty to bear the injuries you have suffered as a result of a traffic accident for which you are not responsible. You are therefore entitled to compensation to compensate for the personal injuries you have suffered.

Exchange of information between the parties involved

The first thing you should do when you have an accident with your vehicle, or are hit by a car, is to exchange personal details, vehicle registration numbers and insurance companies with the other party. This would be normal, but up to 4 cases can occur after a traffic accident.

That the parties involved agree

The parties involved agree on what has happened and share their version of events, and this is reflected in the accident report. This must be signed by both parties to be valid, and each party must keep a signed copy.

The parties involved do not agree

In this case, the most advisable thing to do is to call the police so that they can make a police report. The negative side of this situation is that the management of the claim may be delayed, as the insurers must agree on who was at fault.

If no friendly report is made and the police are not called in

If there is no friendly report or police report and there is no understanding between the parties involved, it is obligatory to exchange information so that each party involved reports the accident to their insurance company. 

If the other party involved does not provide us with the data

If the other party does not cooperate in providing us with the information, it is essential that we at least take note of the registration or plate number in order to be able to identify the owner of the vehicle and the insurance company.

In the event that the other party involved does not agree and does not want to provide their details, the correct thing to do is to take note of their number plate so that we can report the accident to the insurance company and identify the vehicle of the other party involved.

Medical assistance

Secondly, it is of vital importance that you receive first medical assistance in any medical centre, within a maximum period of 72 hours from the occurrence of the accident.

Inform the insurance company of the accident

Next, call your insurance company to report the accident, explaining the dynamics of the accident and indicating if there are any injuries. The Insurance Contract Law establishes a period of 7 days to make this notification.

Compensation if there are injuries

Finally, you should know that you have the right to receive free medical treatment to heal your injuries, as well as medical assistance from the corresponding doctor until you are definitively discharged. 

This can be carried out in various clinics of your choice, depending on the proximity to your home. 

Once your injuries are stabilised and you have been discharged, your injuries can be assessed and it is time to claim your compensation.

After 20 years of applying an obsolete system for the valuation of damages caused to people in traffic accidents, on 1^st January 2016, a new system came into force (Law 35/2015, of 22^nd September, reforming the system for the valuation of damages caused to people in traffic accidents) which came into force, correcting a large part of the previous one, providing us with a complex system composed of tables and concepts, based on the circumstantial casuistry that could occur in the victims.

The system advocates, this time more correctly, as fundamental principles:

1. Principle of full reparation: it assumes full indemnity for the damages caused.

2.     Principle of articulation: it requires that patrimonial and non-patrimonial loss be assessed separately and, within each other, the different concepts.

What elements make up the compensation

First of all, it is important to recognise all the items included in the Schedule to compensate those damages which, consequently, are liable for compensation.

The structure of the Schedule is clear, concrete and simple, leaving little room for discretion, offering a method of compensation that starts with whether, after the traffic accident, the object of assessment is death, permanent incapacity or sequelae or temporary incapacity. In each of them, there are 3 concepts that are the object of compensation; the basic personal injury, the particular personal injury and the patrimonial loss.  Below we show the structure of the Schedule.

CALCULATION OF COMPENSATION FOR PERSONAL INJURY IN CASES OF TEMPORARY DISABILITY AND SEQUELAE

This section will focus on the calculation of compensation in situations 2 and 3, after-effects and temporary disability. The case of death, due to its complexity, will be dealt with in a separate post later on.

- TEMPORARY INCAPACITY. WE TURN TO TABLES 3.A, 3.B and 3.

Table 3 (A, B and C) values the damage caused within the period from the time of the accident until the date of injury stabilisation or medical discharge, whether personal, assigning an amount per day depending on whether it is classified as basic, moderate, serious or very serious. And patrimonial, depending on the amounts that are accredited as having been borne.

-AFTEREFFECTS or SEQUELAE. Tables A, 2. B and 2.

Sequelae are the physical, intellectual, organic and sensory impairments and aesthetic damage that derive from an injury and remain after the healing process is complete. And for this, we turn to Table 2:

TABLE 2.A.1 corresponds to the medical scale, and the BASIC PERSONAL INJURY.  

Locate the sequela in question within the Medical Scale, and observe that a range appears for each one of them. This is the score that corresponds to that sequela, and within which the corresponding number of points will be assigned.

Once the score has been assigned, we turn to the following table.

TABLE 2.A.2. ECONOMIC SCALE

This table, which is easy to apply, shows the economic valuation of our injuries, according to the number of points assigned to the specific injury and according to the age of the injured person.

TABLE 2.B. PARTICULAR PERSONAL INJURY

Table 2.B, will be used only in those cases in which the sequela suffered exceeds a certain number of points. It is a table that compensates in an extra way those cases in which the damages are of greater severity.

TABLE 2.C. PECUNIARY DAMAGE or PATRIMONIAL LOSS

Table 2.C guarantees compensation for present and future pecuniary damage, if any, caused to the injured party.

And finally, a simple example:

A 31-year-old male cook with 2 sequelae and 95 days of temporary incapacity, 30 of which he was on sick leave, during which time he received his full salary.

We turn to Table 3 to quantify the period of temporary incapacity, i.e. the number of days.  In this sense, 30*64.25 and 65*37.06 = 4,336.4 euros.

On the other hand, we turn to Table 2, first to the medical scale to identify our sequela, then to the economic scale to quantify it. In this way, we extract that a person of 31 years of age with two points of sequela corresponds to 2,073.93 euros.

Since in our example there are no other damages, the total amount to be compensated is 6,410.33 euros.

One of the most disabling injuries that a person can suffer after a traffic accident is quadriplegia. This condition damages severely the spinal cord above the thoracic vertebra and although it can present itself in many forms, the most common is the irreversible, partial or total paralysis of the trunk and limbs. Its consequences not only affect the victim for life, but also his or her family and relatives, which is why calculating the amount of compensation for quadriplegia after a traffic accident is very complex.

If you want to know what compensation for quadriplegia consists of, here are the most important aspects to take into account in this type of claim.

What is the compensation for quadriplegia in an accident? 

Quadriplegia is synonymous with disability, as it is one of the most serious spinal traumas that exist. For medical science, the possibilities of reversing the extent of this injury are very low or practically nil, although in specific cases, some victims may recover a fraction of mobility in some of their limbs after a tough rehabilitation process. 

Therefore, quadriplegia means a radical change in the life of the injured people and that of their relatives, as they need constant care and attention in their day-to-day life. For this reason, Law 35/2015 in the schedule of compensation for traffic accidents contemplates different items for calculating compensation for quadriplegia, which we will explain below. 

Compensation for quadriplegia that can be claimed for

In a claim for compensation for tetraplegia, the affected person can request compensation for temporary injuries, for the time that elapses between the traffic accident and the stabilisation of the injury, and also for permanent injuries or sequelae.

In addition, compensation can also be claimed for pecuniary damage. That is to say, for the medical expenses incurred since the accident occurred and for those that you will have to pay for the rest of your life, as well as for the income that you will no longer be able to earn because you will no longer be able to carry out your professional activity as before the accident.  

Temporary injuries 

Compensation for temporary injuries compensates for the damage caused to the victim during the period of healing or stabilisation of his or her injuries. If the injured person suffers a quadriplegia, he/she is entitled to claim this type of compensation. 

The amount will depend on the number of days and the type of damage caused to the victim:  

• Days in the ICU: very serious injury.
• Days of hospitalisation: serious injury.
• Days of incapacity: moderate harm.
• Non-impeding days: basic injury.

In addition, for each of the operations or surgical interventions required by the injured party, compensation may also be requested. The amount will depend on the group of surgical interventions to which each operation belongs.

After-effects (Particular Damage - Table 2.A) 

Although quadriplegia can be compensated as a temporary injury, once it is stabilised, since it causes irreversible damage, it becomes a permanent injury or sequela. Therefore, the affected person is also entitled to claim compensation for this concept.   

The valuation of the after-effects of quadriplegia depends on the area of the spinal column that has suffered the damage. According to the scale, there are three zones and depending on these, the injury is scored from 0 to 100:

• From vertebra C1 to C4 (no mobility): 100 points.
• From vertebrae C5 to C6 (mobility of the shoulder and scapular girdle): between 96 and 98 points.
• From vertebrae C7 to C8 (mobility of the upper limbs): between 93 and 95 points.

In addition, the scale establishes an increase in the amount of this compensation depending on the particular damage that the sequela cause to the victim. These damages are:

• Additional moral damages for psychophysical harm.
• Complementary moral damages for aesthetic damage.
• Moral damages for loss of quality of life.
• Moral damages for loss of quality of life of family members.
• Loss of the foetus as a result of the accident. 
• Exceptional damage. 

Patrimonial loss (Emerging damage - Table 2.C). 

In a compensation for quadriplegia, compensation can also be claimed for the pecuniary loss caused to the injured person. In other words, for all the costs of health care, hospitalisation, pharmaceutical treatment, etc., that the injured person has needed during the healing period of the temporary injuries. 

The compensation in this case will be paid directly to the hospital that has provided the medical care, so that the injured party does not have to pay for them.  

Likewise, within the compensation for pecuniary damage, all the future expenses that the injured person will have to bear throughout his life will be included, given his or her after-effects. This amount will be paid directly to the victim.  

These future expenses are: 

• The prostheses and orthosis required by medical prescription.
• Physiotherapy and occupational therapy treatments required.
• Expenses caused by the loss of personal autonomy to carry out the essential activities of ordinary life.
• Instruments, equipment or systems prescribed by medical report to alleviate the limitations caused by the disability.
• Adaptation of the home to adapt it to the needs of the injured person.
• Adaptation of the vehicle used by the injured person or the cost of the journeys. 
• Help from a third person in the home to carry out non-medical activities. 

The amounts corresponding to all these expenses are included in Table 2.C of the scale included in Law 35/2015, of 22 September. 

Responsible for awarding compensation 

As in any other compensation for a traffic accident, the insurance company of the vehicle that caused the accident will be responsible for compensating the victim of tetraplegia for all these concepts we have seen. 

Income Loss 

As is obvious, a person who suffers a quadriplegia cannot return to work as he/she did before the traffic accident. This entails an additional financial loss caused to the victim, whose compensation must be added to the consequential loss mentioned above. 

We are talking about Income loss, which refers to the income that the person will no longer receive as a consequence of the sequela of their injury. 

The amount of this compensation depends on the employment situation of the injured person at the time of the accident: 

• If he/she was working, he/she will be granted permanent incapacity:
• Partial, if he can carry out certain tasks of his professional activity.
• Total, if he or she is unable to carry out his professional activity.
• Absolute, if he or she is unable to carry out any type of professional activity.

• If you were not working, the scale includes an item for incapacity to enter the labour market.

To calculate the amount of compensation for income loss, according to Law 35/2015, it is necessary to take into account what the injured party's income was before the accident. If the injured party was unemployed, the unemployment benefits they were receiving will be used for the calculation and if they were not entitled to benefits, the minimum annual interprofessional wage will be considered as income.