The Cabinet gave the green light to the draft law which regulates the compensation for non-pecuniary damage resulting from minor injuriescommonly defined as macrolesions. This legislation deals with considering both the biological and moral aspects of the victim. With the establishment of a single national reference table, the aim is to guarantee accident victims the right to complete and fair compensation for the damage suffered by insurance companies and above all uniformity of treatment for consumers (from North to South) which will allow same levels of compensation throughout Italy.
Injuries in a road accident
A road accident can cause damage to an individual's health, or there may be residual injuries to the person resulting in a biological damage, an injury to the physical or psychological integrity of the subject, injuries that can be temporary or permanent, or impairments that affect the psycho-physical integrity of the injured person for the rest of his or her life.
Compensation for permanent injuries
There severity of permanent injuries up to now it has involved a different damage compensation mechanism. In fact, for minor injuries – i.e. up to nine percentage points – there is a certain mechanism for establishing compensation; the reference standard is art. 139 of the Insurance Code (Legislative Decree no. 209/2005) which introduced a compensation settlement mechanism, based on a table prepared by decree of the President of the Republic (subject to a resolution of the Council of Ministers, on the proposal of the Minister of health, in concert with those of work and social policies, justice and productive activities) updated periodically according to the Istat indices, with a decree issued annually by the Ministry of Economic Development.
Personal injury compensation table
Until now, however, for the serious injuriesor the so-called permanent macros (from 10 percentage points up to 100), the compensation was based on the tables drawn up by the individual Courts, marking unjust differences for injuries of the same entity between injured parties residing in different regions. This mechanism has highlighted the possibility of incomprehensible disparities between one Region and another and between one forum and another, so much so that it has been defined as “forum shopping”. Therefore, already in 2011 the Supreme Court of Cassation, wanting to reiterate the need to respect the fundamental principle of equality, had established that the tables of the Court of Milan or Rome were the most suitable to ensure fairness in compensation for damage from road accidents.
Single national table
The need to assume a single parameter, “single national table“, therefore, found asylum in the approval by the Council of Ministers last 16.1.2024 of the DPR scheme containing the “Table of impairments to psychophysical integrity between 10 and 100 points” That regulates the compensation of non-pecuniary damage for macro injuries, understood both in the biological and moral components.
The Single National Table for macro-injuries establishes a certain pecuniary value to be attributed to each single point of disability (biological damage) and three further tables for compensation for moral damage, with a direct proportionality with the degree of disability and an inverse one with the age of the injured party.
What changes
The main difference with the previous tables is that the increase in the economic value of the point compared to the percentage of disability is calculated on the basis of a multiplier that is more than proportional to the percentage increase assigned to the after-effects. Non-pecuniary damage is separated and assessed into the two components of biological damage on the one hand and moral damage on the other.
The latter defined in jurisprudence as “pecunia Doloris”, understood as damage caused by suffering and disturbance of the soul, is one of the innovations of the reform. There is a multiplier to establish the moral damage with which the biological damage values are increased in a progressive percentage for each single point of disability; the use of the multiplier is permitted only following rigorous tests and attachments, whereas previously, although susceptible to some customization, it was established as a percentage of the biological damage.
Single compensation from North to South to reduce the cost of insurance policies?
With the single table we also try to put a stop to the increases in car insurance for which the Guarantor for the surveillance of prices, on the indication of the Ministry of Made in Italy, has convened the rapid alert surveillance commission for February 14th. of prices in the insurance sector. The meeting will delve into the dynamics of costs, which over the years have led to a constant increase borne by consumers.
This reform, abstractly, should guarantee victims certain and fair compensation and at the same time should lead to a rationalization of compensation with a consequent reduction in insurance compensation and perhaps also a reduction in the cost of the policy.
As always, the average man's fear is that when legislative reforms concern, even only incidentally, banks or insurance companies, they end up not helping the consumer or the citizen.
Only the unveiling of the tables and the practical application of these will be able to dispel any suspicion.
New personal injury compensation table
We will update the article as soon as the new single table for compensation for personal injuries (macro injuries) to victims of road accidents is defined and available.
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