What does a personal injury lawyer do? And when to hire one?

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A personal injury accident unexpectedly turns your life upside down. A personal injury lawyer takes the entire legal and financial process out of your hands after an accident under Dutch law in the Netherlands. We protect your rights and hold the opposing party liable. We also collect the medical and legal evidence, calculate your full damages, and negotiate with the insurer.

It is best to engage our firm as early as possible after the accident. This prevents crucial evidence from being lost. This ensures that you immediately experience financial peace of mind through advances on your personal injury compensation. We help you with this.

Do you want to know exactly where you stand immediately after an accident? Take the free Quickscan. Within 5 minutes, you will know if you have a case and receive an indication of your compensation. Prefer to contact us? Then get in touch directly via our contact form. We are happy to help. This initial assessment is completely free and without obligation.

Your case will be handled personally by mr. Patrick Nobel. You pay nothing for our help. In the event of acknowledged liability, the opposing party bears our costs based on art. 6:96 of the Dutch Civil Code (BW). Do not wait too long to call in help. Important evidence and witness memories can fade quickly.

What exactly does a personal injury lawyer do for you?

When you engage our firm, we take over the entire, often complex claims process for you. Our goal is for you to be able to focus fully on your medical recovery. Meanwhile, we ensure the maximum and fair compensation. A specialized personal injury lawyer carries out the following concrete steps for you:

Holding the opposing party liable We investigate the circumstances of the accident in detail. Next, we formally and in writing hold the person who caused the accident liable based on art. 6:162 BW. This is the legal basis for a tort. Without a correct notice of liability, we cannot determine your damages and no claims process begins.

Collecting legal and medical evidence Insurers do not just pay out. They demand hard evidence. We collect witness statements, request police reports, and claim your medical file. We do this to make your case legally watertight. The faster we do this, the stronger your file becomes.

Directing the medical process In personal injury cases, medical causality is crucial. Are your complaints really caused by the accident? In cases of severe injury, we always engage an independent medical advisor for expert advice. The Gerechtshof Leeuwarden ruled in ECLI:NL:GHLEE:2007:BB3156 that a reasonably competent and reasonably acting personal injury lawyer must exercise the necessary care in complex cases. This specifically means that a medical advisor must be engaged. We then translate these medical recommendations into legal limitations.

Negotiating and arranging advances We conduct the tough discussions with the insurer’s lawyers. Because a personal injury process sometimes takes months or years, we immediately demand advances on your compensation. This prevents you from getting into financial problems during your recovery due to loss of income or medical bills.

What material and non-material damages do we claim for you?

One of the most important tasks of a personal injury lawyer is mapping out your damages. Victims who negotiate with an insurer themselves often forget important damage items. Our firm ensures that you are compensated for everything you are entitled to. We claim, among other things:

• Non-material damages (pain and suffering compensation (smartengeld)): Compensation for the pain, sorrow, and loss of enjoyment of life that you experience due to the accident.
• Material damages and loss of earning capacity: Loss of income because you are (temporarily) unable to work, including missed bonuses or pension accrual.
• Domestic help: Compensation for the tasks in the house that you can no longer perform yourself due to your injury.
• Medical costs: Your deductible, non-reimbursed physiotherapy, and medical aids.
• Travel costs: Trips to the hospital, the physiotherapist, and our office.
• Loss of self-sufficiency: Costs for chores in and around the house (such as painting or garden maintenance) that you now have to outsource.

Many victims only claim the direct medical costs and leave the rest behind. Our firm accurately maps out all these items.

Do you want to know which damage items apply to your situation? Take the free Quickscan and discover your options within 5 minutes. You can also contact mr. Patrick Nobel directly via our contact form. This costs you nothing and obliges you to nothing. We recover your full damages, including our own costs, from the liable party.

When is the best time to hire a personal injury lawyer?

The answer to the question of when to hire a personal injury lawyer is simple: as early as possible after the accident. Many victims wait too long. For example, because they first want to recover or want to maintain a good relationship with the opposing party. However, this can be very detrimental to your case.

You should engage our firm immediately in the following situations:

Severe or permanent injury The more complex the injury, the more important the medical and legal guidance is from day one. With bone fractures, brain injury, or whiplash complaints, the final medical situation must be carefully awaited. We monitor this process.

Discussion about liability If the opposing party denies being at fault, immediate legal intervention is necessary. We immediately collect the evidence to enforce liability anyway. Without an acknowledgment of liability, you will not receive any compensation.

A low or slow proposal from the insurer Insurers sometimes try to settle cases quickly and cheaply with a settlement agreement. Never just sign a proposal. We see through these tactics and calculate what you really ought to receive.

A workplace accident The relationship with your employer makes these cases complex and emotional. You do not want to lose your job, but you do want to see your damages compensated. We ensure a professional, de-escalating handling where we often communicate directly with your employer’s liability insurer.

Why choose personal injury specialists and an LSA lawyer?

Not every personal injury jurist or personal injury agency offers the same quality. The term ‘personal injury specialist’ is not protected. Anyone can call themselves that. Mr. Patrick Nobel, however, is a member of the LSA (Association of Personal Injury Lawyers). This is the highest quality mark in the Netherlands and guarantees the highest degree of specialization, extensive litigation experience, and permanent education.

To make the differences clear at a glance, you will find a clear table below:

Our personal injury specialists, unlike a regular personal injury agency, have litigation authority. This means that we will take your case to court if the insurer refuses to pay fair compensation. This ‘big stick’ ensures in practice that insurers negotiate with us faster and more fairly. This creates equality of arms. The insurer has a team of lawyers, and with our firm, you have that too. Moreover, we fall under strict legal disciplinary law, which offers you extra certainty about our integrity.

What does personal injury advice and legal aid cost?

For you as a victim, the help of our personal injury lawyers is generally completely free of charge. You therefore do not have to worry about high hourly rates. We offer free assistance. The legislator has established in art. 6:96 paragraph 2 BW that the reasonable costs for determining damages and liability, as well as the extrajudicial collection costs, can be recovered as property damage from the liable party. The liable party paying the costs is therefore regulated by law.

In case law, the so-called ‘double reasonableness test’ applies here. The Gerechtshof ‘s-Hertogenbosch confirmed in ECLI:NL:GHSHE:2012:BX8695 that for the reimbursement of these costs by the insurer, two things must be reasonable. First, invoking legal aid must be reasonable. Second, the extent of the costs incurred must be reasonable.

The costs for external experts, such as our medical advisor or a labor expert, also fall under this. The Hoge Raad (Dutch Supreme Court) ruled in ECLI:NL:HR:2022:1174 that reasonable costs incurred by an insured party to determine the damages are mandatorily borne by the insurer. However, it does apply that the compensation must be based on actual hours worked at a reasonable rate. The Gerechtshof Amsterdam ruled in ECLI:NL:GHAMS:2013:1621 that an agreed no-cure-no-pay percentage is not automatically the standard for the extrajudicial costs to be reimbursed. In short: we send our invoice based on reasonable hours directly to the opposing party’s insurer. You pay us nothing.

What did the legislator mean by the claims process?

The legislator has specifically designed liability law to protect victims. The system is not intended as a cold, mathematical calculation, but puts the needs of the victim first. In parliamentary history, the importance of a good and fair claims process is emphasized. The Minister of Justice wrote about this in 2007:

“The central question in the research concerns the expectations and needs that victims and relatives have of liability law, what they want to achieve with the claims process, and what considerations they make in that context.”

This quote underlines exactly why the assistance of a specialized personal injury lawyer is so crucial. We are not only here to apply the law, but to ensure that your personal expectations and needs in the complex claims process are actually realized. We take the legal battle out of your hands, so that you get the space to rebuild your life.

Frequently asked questions about personal injury and our legal aid

What does a personal injury lawyer do?

A personal injury lawyer takes the entire process out of your hands. We hold the opposing party liable, collect evidence, direct the medical process with our own medical advisor, estimate all damage items, negotiate with the insurer, arrange advances, and litigate in court if necessary.

When do you hire a personal injury lawyer?

It is best to engage us as early as possible after the accident. This is crucial for securing evidence, monitoring deadlines, and the initial medical recording. Certainly in the event of severe or permanent injury, discussion about liability, a low proposal from the insurer, or a workplace accident, immediate engagement is necessary.

How does the process of hiring for personal injury work at your firm?

The process of hiring for personal injury always begins with a free and no-obligation intake interview. During this conversation, we assess the feasibility of your case. Subsequently, we immediately hold the opposing party liable and start the claims process.

Can I also switch to your firm halfway through my case?

Yes, that is certainly possible. If you are dissatisfied with your current representative or legal aid insurer because your case is at a standstill, we can perform a second opinion and take over your file. We will then ensure a fresh, decisive approach.

Do I have to keep in touch with the opposing party’s insurer myself?

No, as soon as you engage our firm, we take over all communication with the opposing party’s insurer. You no longer have to make difficult phone calls or answer complicated letters yourself. We unburden you completely.

What if the opposing party does not (yet) acknowledge liability?

If the opposing party disputes liability, we conduct the legal discussion. We collect the necessary evidence, such as witness statements and police reports, to enforce liability anyway. If necessary, we submit the case to the court to force a breakthrough.

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