Accident at work
If you are injured at work, or on a direct route to or from work, you are entitled to compensation from accident insurance for employees mandated by collective wage agreements/union contracts, as well as social security accident insurance. The right to claim compensation is not dependent on establishing fault or blame for the occurrence of the accident.
Accident at work
Details
The claim is directed at the employer’s insurance company as well as with the Icelandic Health Insurance (Sjúkratryggingar Íslands). Intent or gross negligence by the injured person may result in total or partial loss of rights to compensation.
Due to the accident, you may be entitled to receive a daily allowance for incapacity to work and compensation for loss of amenity/medical disability, as well as reimbursement of medical costs.
Should the employer be responsible for the accident, e.g. due to unsatisfactory or unsafe working conditions or the negligence of other employees, a claim for damages may arise against the employer directly or their insurance company.
Please note that traffic accidents are traditionally excluded in work accident insurance policies.
Fortis
Here to help
It is of vital importance to report all accidents to the relevant insurance company as soon as possible to ensure that your right to compensation is not lost. Fortis will provide you with a comprehensive assessment of your case free of charge.
Examples of cases
Accident at work
51-year-old / Fracture of the wrist
Contacted Fortis for an assessment two weeks after the accident. Fortis began by ensuring the accident had been correctly reported to all relevant parties and took care of all case elements, communications with the liable parties, collection and analysis of the necessary data and arranged for the reimbursement of medical expenses.
One year after the client’s first meeting all necessary data had been gathered and Fortis had an impartial assessor assess the extent and the severity of the damages suffered in the accident.
The results of the assessment arrived three weeks after the assessment meeting resulting in 15% loss of amenity/medical disability. The total compensation amounted to approx. 4.100.000 kr.
35-year-old / Injury to the middle finger
Contacted Fortis for an assessment nearly two years after the accident. Fortis took care of all case elements, communications with the liable parties, collection and analysis of the necessary data.
Only three months after the client’s first meeting all the necessary data had been compiled and an impartial assessor assessed the extent and severity of the damages suffered in the accident.
The result of the assessment arrived eight weeks after the assessment meeting resulting in 7% loss of amenity/medical disability. The total compensation amounted to approx. 1.300.000 kr.
Examples of cases
Accident at work with employer’s liability
32-year-old / Injury to hand
Contacted Fortis for an assessment nine months after the accident. Fortis’ first task was to ensure that the employer had correctly reported the accident to all relevant parties. Fortis took care of case elements, communications with liable parties as well as collection and analysis of the necessary data. Based on the facts of the case Fortis’ lawyers ascertained that the employer was liable for the accident and made a claim against the employer’s insurance company. The claim was accepted by the insurer.
Six months after the client’s first meeting all necessary data had been compiled and an impartial assessor assessed the extent and severity of the damages suffered in the accident.
The result of the assessment arrived twelve weeks after the assessment meeting resulting in 15% loss of amenity/medical disability and 18% loss of earning capacity/financial disability. The total compensation amounted to approx. 13.000.000 kr.
We kindly ask you to keep in mind that each case is unique and that numerous variables affect the outcome of a case and by extension the amount compensated, such as the terms of the insurance policy, the age of the injured person and the result of an assessment for permanent impairment and disability. For accidents based on tort law the average income of the injured person before the accident is also an important variable.
Step-by-Step
The General Process of a Personal Injury Case
Step 1
Reporting the accident
It is of vital importance to report your accident to the relevant insurance company as soon as possible to ensure that the right to compensation does not expire. We at Fortis will report the accident on your behalf or assist you with filling out the correct form.
Step 2
Data collection
The necessary data varies across case types, but for personal injury cases the main case data is data that proves and documents the accident and the injury; such as police reports, doctor’s reports and medical records, records from physical therapists, psychologists, dentists and other parties that assist the injured person in recovery. We at Fortis will take care of the data collection on your behalf.
Step 3
Assessment of injuries
When all the necessary data has been collected it is time to commission an impartial third-party assessor to assess the extent and the severity of the injuries suffered in the accident. As a general rule the assessment is not conducted until at least one year has elapsed from the accident’s occurrence. We at Fortis will guide you every step of the way during the assessment period of the case.
Step 4
Settlement
We use our decades of experience to make a claim for monetary compensation based on the result of the assessment. In the vast majority of cases the insurance company agrees to settle the case based on the assessment. Should the claim for compensation be disputed or the settlement unsatisfactory we can take the insurance company and other liable parties to court at your discretion.
More about the process Questions and Answers
FAQs
Injured persons can suffer a permanent loss of their capacity to earn income (also known as financial disability). The loss of earning prospects can include e.g. a reduction in pay due to a change in work position, line of work or workplace or the reduction of capability to handle strain or stress or working overtime. Permanent loss of earning capacity is assessed in percentages and is assessed on an individual basis. When conducting the assessment, the assessors consider mental and physical abilities, age, education, work experience, residence and other personal aspects of the injured person. This differs from the evaluation for the permanent loss of amenities or disability, which are decided on an impersonal basis. The evaluation for permanent loss of earning capacity is only conducted for accidents which are compensated for under tort law, e.g. traffic accidents or work accidents at sea.
Permanent loss of amenities involves compensation for non-economic loss (also known as medical disability). Loss of amenities is evaluated on a point-based system and does not look to personalised matters, such as age, education, work experience or special talents. All persons are evaluated on the same scale and will receive the same compensation for the same injury and the same symptoms. The point-based system can be found in a chart published by the government which contains instructions on the points certain injuries or symptoms amount to. As an example, the loss of the little finger amounts to 5-7 points with no regard to whether the injured person is a world-class pianist, a lawyer or a craftsman.
The point of stabilisation is the point in time in which no further improvements can be expected from the injured person’s condition or health. In other words, the health condition is stable with no expected changes for the worse or the better.
For traffic accidents or accidents covered by tort law the injured person may have the right to claim compensation for temporary loss of earnings for time spent away from work due to the accident. The compensation covers days away from work in which they do not receive sick pay from their employer and until either they can return to work, or when further improvements to their health cannot be expected. The injured person may also possess a right to compensation for temporary loss of income from the Icelandic Health Insurance (Sjúkratryggingar Íslands).
When the right for compensation from the insurance company lapses, the injured person may possess the right to compensation from their union or pension fund. If the accident is a leisure time accident or an accident at work, they may also possess a right to claim a daily allowance for the incapacity to work.
Am I entitled to compensation?