Employers’ recourse: do you make use of your right to recover your damages?
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ccidents unfortunately happen and in cargo handling it can also happen to an employee of a company. Dutch legislation makes it possible for injured employers to recover their costs for the damages. From my experience as a bodily injury expert, I have learnt that the companies do not always realise that these costs are partially recoverable. Claiming expenses requires expertise The employers, who are familiar with the recourse possibilities and who take actions themselves, find it difficult to successfully hold the insurance company (liability insurer) of the accident-responsible party accountable. All their wellintentioned attempts are often stifled by the perpetrator’s insurance company due to their lack of experience; this results in endless discussions - the causality of the accident and the related disability, the blame and the amount of damages claimed. Very quickly the employers are likely to give up, mainly because they are not able to operate on the same level of expertise as the personal injury practitioner of the insurance company.
Which costs can be claimed? The employers who are faced with a disabled employee, can claim the following costs: • Net wage paid during sick leave • The costs for the advisor who makes the claim on the employer’s behalf • According to the Gatekeeper Law (Wet Poortwachter), if an accident happened after the 13th, July 2008, the following expenses can be claimed • The costs of the occupational physician • The costs of the employer’s administrator who coordinates the medical file for the Gatekeeper Law (Wet Poortwachter) • The costs of reintegration such as adaptation of the work place, and the introduction of internal/external supervisors for the employee. Also, the employee’s travel expenses can be recovered (as the disabled employee cannot travel alone)
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Marco Muis Injury Expert Relet
Text Marco Muis, Injury Expert Relet Photography PR Relet
Nevertheless, the employer remains out of pocket: for example, a replacement for the disabled employee’s position and for possible business interruptions caused by the accident in question, both result in monetary losses. 5 years legal expiry period, right of recourse is sometimes down to luck As stated at the beginning of this article, due to the companies’ unfamiliarity with the recourse possibilities, or the discouraging conduct of the liability insurer, the companies can lose a lot of money. A retroactive search for the recovery of money during a period of 5 years (limitation period) gave one of my clients over 100.000 euros. This was a significant sum he was not expecting and was useful in this time of crisis. Is the recourse an expensive solution? Often the best choice for an employer is to involve an expert. The costs for the expert can also be claimed from the liability insurer and in most cases these type of services are free of charge for the employer.
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