When an accident, disaster or crime occurs, the lives of the victim and his or her loved ones are often completely turned upside down. At that time, they are usually not at all concerned with all kinds of legal issues such as who is responsible for the damage, whether to engage an advocate and whether to secure a claim for compensation. This is completely understandable: attention to the victim's health and recovery is the most important thing and the rest can therefore fade into the background. Unfortunately, the legislature has not always taken this into account and certain legal actions may be necessary at short notice. The judge, even if instinctively unreasonable, will have to follow the law and often has no policy discretion in this regard.
More or less urgency required
Generally, a claim for damages does not lapse after 5 years from awareness of the damage and the liable person and can be interrupted with a simple letter and a new 5-year period then begins to run. But there are exceptions to this for special legal relationships. Consider an accident involving a passenger transport contract (3 years and sometimes even a 3-month limitation period) and a claim against a manufacturer of a defective product (3 years). If you do not claim your rights in time within the statute of limitations (or expiration period), you may lose all your claims for damages.
But even these exceptions with shorter statutes of limitations do not expect action in the foreseeable future after the accident, disaster or crime. What I want to draw attention to in this blog is the legal requirement that a claim for damages (or: immaterial damages) must be claimed while alive. This means that a victim himself, his advocate, or the authorized representative on behalf of the victim must claim damages (intangible damages) from the liable party before a person dies. This can play a role in serious accidents in which a victim falls into a coma or suffers such injury that death follows. It is precisely in these types of accidents (disasters or crimes) where the consequences are so horrific and wide-ranging that compensation for damages will usually be high. After all, the compensation for this pain and loss of enjoyment of life will have to be fair in those circumstances. Should the victim or the victim's next of kin have failed to secure this claim while alive, the claim for damages (immaterial damages) can no longer be claimed after death. Should this have been done by or on behalf of the victim, the law provides that the compensation may still be paid to the heirs after death.
One phone call sufficient
An example to illustrate this. Jaap fell victim to a road accident: he was hit in the blind spot by a garbage truck on his road bike. With screaming sirens he is picked up by the ambulance. In the ambulance, he is still conscious and tells the paramedics that the driver of the garbage truck was not looking out of his sight and he wants to see the bottom line. At the hospital, his family is with him constantly, but unfortunately, Jaap's condition worsens. In a lucid moment, Jaap's father calls a personal injury lawyer to tell him what happened. The lawyer notes the most important details and urges Jaap to take care of his son and leave the rest with her. After the phone call, the lawyer immediately makes contact with the garbage company involved and its insurer and ensures that the rights of Jaap and his loved ones are secured. Shortly thereafter Jaap dies and some time later, when the family is ready, contact with the lawyer is resumed. The lawyer tells the family that Jaap's claim for compensation was secured in a timely manner and passes to the family as legal heirs. Had Jaap's father failed to make this phone call, the message would have sounded that the claim for compensation for damages (intangible damages) no longer existed.
Helping hand
The impact of an accident, disaster or crime on the victim and their loved ones should not be underestimated. Beer advocaten aims to lend a helping hand by taking legal matters off their hands. This also means that we want to do everything in our power to prevent problems such as those described above. Should this situation occur to you, do not hesitate to contact Beer advocaten so that we can take the necessary legal steps in a timely manner.
Amsterdam, Nov. 23, 2021
If you have questions about this blog, please contact the author, Irene Timmermans.