The temporary functional deficit (déficit fonctionnel temporaire, "DFT") compensates the reduction in capacities and quality of life suffered by the victim before the date of stabilisation (consolidation). It is calculated by combining the length of the periods of impairment, their degree (total or partial) and a daily compensation base. It is a head of damage distinct from the permanent functional deficit (déficit fonctionnel permanent, "DFP"), which takes over once the condition has stabilised.
The DFT is a temporary non-pecuniary head of loss in the Dintilhac classification (nomenclature Dintilhac, the court-endorsed classification of heads of personal-injury loss). It compensates the disability suffered by the victim in their personal sphere during the traumatic illness (maladie traumatique), that is, between the day of the harmful event and consolidation. It covers impairment in the acts of everyday life, the loss of quality of life and the temporary deprivation of the personal or leisure activities the victim would normally have pursued.
It must be distinguished from the permanent functional deficit (DFP), which compensates the same harm but after consolidation, once the sequelae are definitively settled. The DFT is temporary by definition: it ends on the day of consolidation, the pivotal date in the valuation of personal injury. Its exact place among the other heads is detailed in our article on the nomenclature Dintilhac.
It must also be distinguished from the pecuniary heads covering the same period. Loss of income suffered before consolidation falls under current loss of professional earnings (pertes de gains professionnels actuels), not under the DFT. The DFT compensates only the harm to personal life, independently of its financial consequences.
The DFT is total or partial depending on the intensity of the impairment.
It is the medical expert report that assesses the periods and their rates. Like the DFP rating, this assessment is medical data: the lawyer values the head from these periods, and does not determine them themselves. The judge, for their part, is not bound by the expert's conclusions (article 246 of the Code of Civil Procedure), which leaves room for argument when the report is open to challenge.
The calculation adds up, period by period, the product of three elements:
DFT = length of the period × impairment rate × daily base
The daily base is the value retained for one day of total impairment (100%). It is not set by statute. Practitioners rely on the indicative compensation guidelines of the French courts of appeal for personal injury, known as the référentiel Mornet, and on case law. As with the DFP point value, this base remains indicative: it does not bind the judge, who assesses the loss in their sovereign discretion.
Each partial period is obtained by applying its rate to this base, then all the periods up to consolidation are added together. The precision with which the periods are broken down is decisive: a forgotten period of impairment or a wrongly carried-over rate directly distorts the amount.
To illustrate the mechanism, take a simplified course between the accident and consolidation, writing the daily base as "V":
| Period | Length | Rate | Equivalent days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hospitalisation | 30 days | 100% | 30 |
| Convalescence at home | 60 days | 50% | 30 |
| Gradual resumption of activity | 30 days | 25% | 7.5 |
| Total | 120 days | 67.5 |
The head is then worth 67.5 × V. The calculation is based on 67.5 days weighted by the degree of impairment, not on the 120 calendar days. Two files of the same length can lead to very different amounts depending on the split between total and partial impairment.
A reference table gives an indicative base, not the amount for a given file. The daily base actually retained varies from one decision to another, depending on the context of the file. To defend a base, you therefore have to test it against what has been awarded in comparable situations.
That is what a base of quantified case law allows: retrieving the daily base retained in comparable decisions, then reading the dispersion of the amounts as much as their central value. To place a specific file, the Plato base can be searched at jp.plato.legal, and the search method is detailed in our article on how to find quantified case law.
Justifying a daily base and a breakdown of periods means tying each amount to a real decision. That is the work Plato, the only AI specialised in personal injury, automates: it ties each amount to its base of more than 84,000 quantified decisions, and every figure stays traceable back to the exhibit it comes from. See also our complete personal-injury valuation guide and the assessment of souffrances endurées (the pain and suffering endured up to consolidation, rated 1 to 7), another head of loss of the temporary period.
What is the difference between the temporary and the permanent functional deficit?
The DFT compensates the impairment suffered before consolidation, the DFP the definitive impairment that persists afterwards. The two heads are cumulative: the DFT covers the traumatic illness, the DFP takes over once the condition has stabilised.
How are total DFT and partial DFT calculated?
For each period, you multiply its length by its impairment rate and by a daily base, then add up all the periods up to consolidation. Total DFT (100%) applies to periods of total impairment, such as hospitalisation; partial DFT applies a rate to the base for periods of residual impairment.
Who sets the DFT periods and rates?
The medical expert assesses them in their report: dates, length and degree of impairment for each period. The lawyer then values the head from these elements, and the judge is not bound by the expert assessment (article 246 of the Code of Civil Procedure).
Is the DFT daily base official?
No. It results from indicative reference tables and from case law. It does not bind the judge and varies from one decision to another, hence the value of testing it against comparable decisions.
Does the DFT cover loss of income before consolidation?
No. Loss of income falls under current loss of professional earnings, a distinct pecuniary head. The DFT compensates only the harm to personal life during the traumatic illness.
Can the DFT be valued automatically?
Yes. A vertical tool like Plato applies the calculation method to the periods and rates retained by the expert, and places the daily base by comparison with decisions handed down, every figure staying traceable back to its source. The periods and rates remain those of the expert assessment.