If your third-party claim succeeds, you will be paid a certain amount of money by the Fund. The Fund pays ‘special damages’ and ‘general damages’.

SPECIAL DAMAGES

This is money to pay for things that cost you money, for example:

• Hospital and medical accounts for treatment that you received since the date of the accident
• Hospital and medical accounts for treatment that you will need in the future (the RAF might undertake to ‘pay’ these costs in the future when you undergo medical treatment; you therefore pay up front and then claim from them)
• Wages/earnings that you already lost as a result of your injuries
• Wages/earnings that you will lose in the future as a result of your injuries
• Cost of someone to take care of you if you cannot do this yourself
• Financial support that you already lost because a breadwinner died
• Travelling expenses
• Financial support that you will lose in the future because a breadwinner is dead
• Funeral expenses (if the dependants of someone who died in a motor vehicle accident are claiming)

Damages for loss of support are limited to R357 565 per year, in respect of each deceased breadwinner, in the case of a claim for loss of support.

Damages for loss of income are limited to R357 565 per year.

These amounts of damages paid for loss of support and loss of income are adjusted quarterly to keep up with inflation.

GENERAL DAMAGES

This is not money to pay accounts. This is money to try to make up for your suffering because of someone else’s fault. For example, you can get general damages:

• For pain and suffering
• For shock
• Because you now have a disability as a result of the accident
• Because your face or your body was badly scarred (disfigured)
• Because you cannot do things that you could do before the accident, like play sports, have children (loss of amenities of life)
• Because your life may now be shorter (shorter life expectancy)

The claim for general damages is limited to ‘serious injuries’. A registered medical practitioner will assess claims for general damages for pain, suffering and disfigurement in the case of bodily injuries to see whether they fall into the category of a ‘serious injury’.

The RAF does not pay compensation for ‘secondary emotional shock’, for example, if you were not involved in the accident but witnessed it. You do, however, still have a common law right to claim against the ‘wrongdoer’ in cases like this and you can go to an attorney or Legal Aid to exercise this right.

PASSENGERS

Passengers injured in a motor vehicle or motorcycle accident can claim for special and general damages from the RAF and there is no limit to what they can claim.