We get a lot of queries, each and every day, about whether a person has a claim or not in terms of the new Act which came into effect on 1 August 2008. The judgment of the Constitutional Court is expected shortly, and we will then have clarity on most of the issues but if the law remains as it is, the reality is that most people do still have claims but their claims are not economically viable. 

In other words, if they are no longer going to get money for pain and suffering, it really would not make sense to sit filling out forms with an attorney for 2 hours to recover a R50,00 hospital bill or R300,00 in private medical expenses, and so while technically speaking, you still have a claim, you don’t have a worthwhile claim in most instances these days. Serious injuries, in terms of the new Act, involve injuries with an amputation above the knee or the elbow or the loss of an eye and apart from that, generally the only worthwhile cases are loss of support cases, although there will be no claim for pain and suffering, there is still a claim for loss of income. You can read a lot more about claims on my firm’s website at www.accidentclaim.co.za .