How long does it take to get compensation for a road traffic accident?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

It depends mainly on how long it takes you to recover, because full compensation for your injuries cannot be calculated until you are discharged from medical treatment or your after-effects stabilise. From the time you make a written claim, the insurer has three months to make you an offer or explain why it is not paying. If you accept the offer, the insurer has five days to pay it. While you are still being treated, you can be paid on account for what is already clear. Payment for damage to the car does not have to wait until your injuries have healed. The steps and their time limits Make a written claim to the insurer of the person responsible as soon as you can, even if you are still being treated. The three months start to run when the insurer receives your claim. If your injuries have not yet stabilised by then, the insurer will not make you its final offer for the time being. It must give you a reasoned reply, make payments on account for the losses that are already established and update you every two months on how your case is going. Once you are discharged and there is a final medical report, the insurer can make you the offer. If you accept it, the insurer must pay it within five days. If you disagree with the assessment of your injuries and ask the “Instituto de Medicina Legal”, the public forensic medicine institute, for a report, which the insurer pays for, the report must be issued within one month of your examination. The insurer then has another month to make you a new offer. How to avoid delays Attend the medical examinations requested by the insurer's doctor. If you do not cooperate, any delay you cause will not entitle you to late-payment interest. Damage to the car can be paid for before the injuries. If you have fully comprehensive insurance, your own insurance company can pay for the repair sooner, although it will apply the excess, which you can then recover from the person at fault. If the offer seems too low, you can take the amount offered and go on claiming the difference, as long as you do not sign any document stating that you are fully compensated by that payment. That way you do not have to wait for everything. If you have to go to court Before suing, the law requires you to have tried to reach an agreement. In traffic accidents, the “Audiencia Provincial” of Barcelona, the provincial appeal court, takes the view that this requirement is met by the prior claim to the insurer and its reasoned offer (the “oferta motivada”) or reasoned reply. Going to court makes the wait longer, but if the insurer delayed without good reason it will have to pay late-payment interest on the compensation. In 2026 the rate is 4,875 % a year for the first two years and at least 20 % a year after that. Do not let the time limit run out while you negotiate. You have one year to claim against the insurer, in Catalonia too. When you are notified of the offer or the reasoned reply, another year starts to run. If you also want to claim against the driver, do so within the first year.