French personal-injury claim values are organised under the nomenclature Dintilhac, with Référentiel Mornet and the Barème Dalloz providing the headline indicative bands for each head of loss.
France's system is built on the nomenclature Dintilhac, a 2005 court-developed taxonomy of heads of loss that is now the dominant framework for organising any personal-injury claim. Claims are split into pre-consolidation and post-consolidation, pecuniary and non-pecuniary, with specific component heads (déficit fonctionnel temporaire, souffrances endurées, préjudice esthétique, déficit fonctionnel permanent, and others).
For the indicative bands, practitioners reach for the Référentiel Mornet, a periodically-updated reference compiled by a working group of judges, and the Barème indicatif d'indemnisation published by Dalloz. Neither is statutory; both are persuasive. Courts of appeal apply them with regional variation.
For motor injury, the Loi Badinter (Law 85-677 of 5 July 1985) imposes near-strict liability on motorists toward non-driver victims and substantially streamlines compensation. A claim for bodily injury must be brought within ten years of the consolidation of the injury under Article 2226 of the Civil Code.
Indicative settlement values. Each row names its source or is marked as a MyClaimWorth estimate. These are starting points for valuation, not quotes for any specific case.
| Injury type | Band |
|---|---|
| Whiplash / soft tissue (minor) | €1,000 to €4,000MyClaimWorth estimate |
| Whiplash (severe / persistent) | €8,000 to €15,000MyClaimWorth estimate |
| Back, moderate (DFP 10 to 20%) | €20,000 to €50,000MyClaimWorth estimate |
| Severe brain injury (DFP 60%+) | €300,000 to €1,000,000+MyClaimWorth estimate |
| Femur fracture | €10,000 to €25,000MyClaimWorth estimate |
| Medical negligence (non-fatal) | €100,000 to €500,000MyClaimWorth estimate |
| Workplace injury (accident du travail) | CPAM benefits; enhanced award only on faute inexcusableOccupational accidents are compensated through the CPAM scheme; full tort damages require proof of the employer faute inexcusable. |
Code Civil art. 2226
Time runs from the consolidation of the initial or aggravated injury, the point at which the injury is stable, as fixed by the medical expert. A new ten year period runs if the injury later gets worse.
Code Civil art. 1240 et seq. Loi Badinter eliminates the faute defence against motor-injury claimants except in narrow circumstances.
Caps that bite on damages awards in France, ordered by impact.
Indicative bands plus pecuniary heads; courts retain discretion.
Each sub-jurisdiction has its own variations.
The procedural pathway from injury to settlement under France law.
Formal demand on the responsible party or insurer. For motor cases under Loi Badinter, the insurer must offer within 8 months.
Joint or unilateral medical expert quantifies Dintilhac heads. The CRCI / ONIAM route provides a no-fault pathway for serious medical-negligence cases.
Insurer offers settlement. Claimant negotiates against Référentiel Mornet figures.
If no settlement, claim filed in the Tribunal Judiciaire with appellate review through the Cour d'Appel and Cour de Cassation.
Short, direct answers to the questions people ask most.
Vocabulary that comes up in any conversation about claim value in this jurisdiction.
Every claim turns on its own facts: severity, prognosis, recovery time, the medical paper trail, lost income, the applicable cap, and the published band that most closely matches. The figures on this page are illustrative, not a quote. For representation, consult a solicitor or attorney qualified in France. See our disclaimer for the full scope of what we do and don't do.
