It’s bad enough if you’re the victim of a traffic accident, industrial accident or dog bite. If you also earn money as a personal injury victim, you will become a victim twice, of the accident itself and of your representative. This is the case in the Netherlands. That is why it is important that you always opt for a personal injury lawyer (Dutch: letselschade advocaat) and not for a personal injury agency. We explain it to you below.
What does the system for personal injury in the Netherlands look like?
If you need a personal injury lawyer in most countries, you will have to pay for it yourself. This is different in the Netherlands, for example if you hire a personal injury lawyer in Utrecht (Dutch: letselschade advocaat Utrecht), then you do not have to pay them. But what about this?
The Dutch Civil Code contains an article that indicates that part of the damage is the costs you have to incur to recover the damage. These costs also include the costs of a representative in the event of personal injury. For example, in the event of injury as a result of a traffic accident or an accident at work. In other words, in the Netherlands you can claim free personal injury from the liable party.
The danger of the Dutch system
The Dutch system for recovering personal injury claims sounds great and it is. After all, if you have an accident and are injured as a result, the damage you suffer as a result will be compensated. But the costs involved in recovering the personal injury are also eligible for compensation. But what is so bad about the Dutch system?
The major problem of the system in the Netherlands is that it does not benefit the quality of legal aid. Because under the law you are entitled to legal assistance, but it is not specified in the law who must provide this legal assistance in the event of personal injury. In other words, anyone in the Netherlands may call themselves a personal injury handler or representative. It is not a protected title. Only the title lawyer is this, but to recover personal injury for a victim, being a lawyer is not necessary.
As a result, the quality of legal assistance in the recovery of personal injury claims in the Netherlands is crumbling. This with major consequences. Because many personal injury victims do not receive the personal injury compensation they are entitled to.
What is being done about this system?
Obviously, there are various initiatives to improve the quality of the representation of interests. For example, there are quality marks of which only expert personal injury lawyers are allowed to become members. However, despite all initiatives, anyone can still become a personal injury specialist. A wrong development that is harmful to many victims of personal injury.
Unfortunately, the government in the Netherlands itself does nothing about this undesirable situation. Insurers also refuse to take responsibility. The result is that the system in the Netherlands will be maintained. The result is a proliferation of all kinds of personal injury offices that know nothing about personal injury stories. They do the job with only one goal, to earn money on the backs of accident victims. A very bad development.
