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Cour de cassation Insightful regarding compensation for bodily injury, the DAMY law firm ensures that each injury is compensated. For this, it is important to know the extent of compensable damages and their scope. Indeed, it is not uncommon for victims to be wrongly denied compensation for professional impact by insurance companies on the grounds that they would already be compensated for the loss of future professional income. It is essential to fully understand the state of current case law on this subject, which makes a real distinction between these two biases in favor of victims.
Court of Cassation, 2nd Civ, May 23, 2019
The Court of Cassation also recalls this distinction in two recent judgments of May 23 and 28, 2019. Regarding the first judgment, the second civil chamber of the Court of Cassation recalls that the professional impact aims to compensate for something other than the simple loss of income. due to the impossibility of exercising a professional activity. In this case, if the victim is compensated for his loss of income, he is not taken into account the professional promotions to which he could have claimed because of his seniority. It is precisely the loss of opportunity for future professional development that the professional impact compensates for. Regarding the second judgment, the criminal chamber admits that beyond the financial damage linked to the loss of income,the impossibility of working constitutes a significant moral prejudice qualified as “social idleness”. Indeed, the professional impact is considered here in addition to the loss of future professional income in order to compensate for the social exclusion suffered by the victim due to the loss of his job. It is his feeling of devaluation in the social sphere and more precisely his “situation of social anomaly” due to his inability to occupy any employment which will be taken into account by the judges, being in fact admitted that the employment of the victim constituted for her, a personal fulfillment allowing her to maintain a social life, to share her experiences and was, in any case, a personal and professional accomplishment.the professional impact is considered here in addition to the loss of future professional income in order to compensate for the social exclusion suffered by the victim due to the loss of his job. It is his feeling of devaluation in the social sphere and more precisely his “situation of social anomaly” due to his inability to occupy any employment which will be taken into account by the judges, being in fact admitted that the employment of the victim constituted for her, a personal fulfillment allowing her to maintain a social life, to share her experiences and was, in any case, a personal and professional accomplishment.the professional impact is considered here in addition to the loss of future professional income in order to compensate for the social exclusion suffered by the victim due to the loss of his job. It is his feeling of devaluation in the social sphere and more precisely his “situation of social anomaly” due to his inability to occupy any employment which will be taken into account by the judges, being in fact admitted that the employment of the victim constituted for her, a personal fulfillment allowing her to maintain a social life, to share her experiences and was, in any case, a personal and professional accomplishment.
Court of Cassation, Crim, May 28, 2019
Thus, it is important to distinguish between the loss of future professional income responding solely to the financial impact of the loss of a job and the broader professional impact, responding to a moral impact for the victim who has blossomed in his professional activity. and forced to give it up. Finally, according to well-established case law, the professional impact may be the subject of specific compensation when the victim has suffered a devaluation on the labor market, a loss of any professional opportunity, increased difficulty in the job that she occupied, or when the victim is forced to abandon his profession in favor of another because of his disability.
