Valuing a personal injury means translating a medical expert report into a compensation claim head by head, supported by case law. The method follows four steps: read the report, break the losses down according to the nomenclature Dintilhac, value each head, then sum up on a schedule. This guide links the key notions together and points to the detailed articles.
Everything starts, in principle, from the expert report, which describes the medical elements: date of stabilisation (consolidation), permanent functional deficit rating, durations of temporary deficit, degree of souffrances endurées (the pain and suffering endured up to consolidation, rated 1 to 7), cosmetic damage. This data is the raw material of the valuation. The lawyer does not determine it, they translate it into quantified claims, which the judge remains free to assess (article 246 of the Code of Civil Procedure).
Two points deserve particular attention: third-party assistance, a heavy head regularly disputed by the payers (the Cour de cassation holds that the award cannot be reduced where the help comes from the family, Civ. 2, 24 Sept. 2020, no. 19-21.317), and the date of consolidation, which marks the boundary between temporary and permanent losses. Note: third-party assistance in the Dintilhac sense targets the permanent head, human help before consolidation falling under miscellaneous costs. What is not recorded in the report will be harder to value afterwards; corrective routes exist (submissions to the expert, art. 276 CPC; a supplementary assessment, art. 245 CPC; a fresh assessment in case of aggravation), but the best moment to document remains the assessment itself.
That is why preparing the assessment weighs as much as the valuation itself: a complaint not voiced before the expert, a medical exhibit missing from the file, and the corresponding head becomes hard to defend. Assisting the victim ahead of the assessment meeting is often more decisive than arguing the amounts afterwards.
Each element of the report attaches to a head of the nomenclature Dintilhac, which distinguishes economic and non-economic losses, temporary and permanent. This breakdown ensures no compensable head is forgotten.
On the economic side, you find health-care expenses, miscellaneous costs, third-party assistance, current and future loss of professional earnings and the impact on future employability. On the non-economic side: temporary and permanent functional deficit, souffrances endurées, cosmetic damage (temporary and permanent), loss of amenity and sexual damage. A head that is not claimed is not compensated: the judge rules only on what is sought (article 5 of the Code of Civil Procedure) and, while they may re-characterise a wrongly filed head (art. 12), they will not go looking for the one you did not formulate. Systematically sweeping the classification remains the only protection against omission.
Each head has its own calculation logic. The table below gives the main ones.
| Head | Basis of calculation |
|---|---|
| Permanent functional deficit (DFP) | rating × value per point (by age) |
| Temporary functional deficit (DFT) | duration × daily amount |
| Souffrances endurées | scale of 1 to 7, amount per degree |
| Loss of professional earnings | earnings lost, current and future |
| Health-care expenses | costs left to be borne |
For the DFP, see our dedicated method for valuing the DFP. For the impairment suffered before consolidation, see how to value the temporary functional deficit. For the souffrances endurées head, see how to assess them and place a file; for harm to appearance, see how to assess permanent cosmetic damage; for the loss of a sporting or leisure activity, see how to assess loss of amenity (préjudice d'agrément); for harm to the sexual sphere, see how to assess sexual damage (préjudice sexuel). Future loss of earnings and certain future health-care expenses are also calculated by capitalisation, using a capitalisation table that translates an annual annuity into capital according to age and life expectancy.
To find comparable decisions, see how to find quantified case law in personal injury; for the tooling, see which software to value the Dintilhac heads.
The bordereau brings together all the valued heads with the amount claimed for each. It is the document sent to the insurer or filed with the court. A clear bordereau, head by head, makes negotiation and the judge's decision easier.
The strength of a bordereau lies less in its total than in its traceability. When each line states the method retained and points to the exhibit that justifies it, the discussion takes place head by head, on ground chosen by the lawyer. Conversely, a poorly justified overall amount is challenged as a block, and that is often where several thousand euros are lost.
Before final compensation, an interim payment on account of the compensation can be sought to cover the costs and losses already borne, particularly where consolidation has not yet been reached. On time limits, a claim for compensation of a personal injury is in principle time-barred ten years from consolidation (article 2226 of the Civil Code), a longer period than the ordinary time limit.
A valuation only carries weight if it is comparable to what the courts actually award. Comparing each head with decisions on close profiles (rating, age, situation) makes it possible to justify the amounts and anticipate the other side's position. That is what Plato, the only AI specialised in personal injury, automates: it ties each head to its base of more than 84,000 quantified decisions, and every figure stays traceable back to the exhibit it comes from.
Where do you start to value a personal injury?
From the medical expert report, which sets the ratings and durations. These elements are then broken down head by head according to the nomenclature Dintilhac.
What is a schedule of losses?
It is the summary document that lists each head of loss with the amount claimed. It serves as the basis for negotiation and for the decision.
How do you justify the amounts claimed?
By comparing them with recent decisions on similar profiles. Quantified case law serves as the reference for each head.
How long does a complete valuation take?
By hand, several hours per file. A vertical tool like Plato brings this work down to a few minutes.
Do you need a specialised tool?
It is not compulsory, but a vertical tool makes the valuation more reliable by breaking the heads down automatically and tying them to real decisions.