Compensation for pain and suffering in Poland (zadośćuczynienie). How courts set the amount

Two kinds of compensation

Polish law separates two things that English often calls compensation. Odszkodowanie covers financial loss, such as the costs of treatment. Zadośćuczynienie covers harm that is not financial, such as pain, fear, humiliation and the loss of the life you had before the accident.

In the cases provided for in the preceding Article, the court may award the injured person an appropriate sum as pecuniary compensation for the harm suffered.

Article 445 § 1 of the Polish Civil Code (unofficial translation)

The preceding article, Article 444, concerns bodily injury and health disorders. Both claims are made at the same time, usually against the insurer of the person liable.

How the court assesses the harm

The words appropriate sum are not defined in the statute. Courts have developed criteria that guide the assessment. Compensation cannot be symbolic or excessive. It must have a noticeable economic value for the injured person, because its purpose is to compensate^{1Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy), judgment of 16 July 1997, II CKN 273/97}.

• The type, intensity and duration of physical and mental suffering.
• Whether the consequences are permanent and what the medical prognosis is.
• The injured person’s age.
• The need to change life plans and the loss of opportunities that were available before the accident.

Only an assessment of these individual circumstances of the particular person allows the court to determine an appropriate sum^{2Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy), judgment of 20 April 2006, IV CSK 99/05}. That is why two people with similar injuries can receive different amounts.

The case is won on evidence. Medical records from the first day, the opinion of a medical expert, and testimony of people who know how the injured person lived before and after the accident usually decide the outcome.

Costs and annuity

• All costs resulting from the injury (Article 444 § 1). On request, the person liable must pay in advance the amount needed for the costs of treatment, and if the injured person has become disabled, also for retraining for another occupation.
• An annuity (renta) if the injured person has lost all or part of the ability to work, their needs have increased or their prospects for the future have decreased (Article 444 § 2).
• A temporary annuity if the damage cannot be precisely determined at the time of the judgment (Article 444 § 3).

Contributory fault

If the injured person contributed to the damage, compensation is reduced accordingly (Article 362 of the Civil Code). Contributory fault is conduct that is causally linked to the damage, one of the links in the chain that led to it^{3Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy), decision of 18 December 2025, I CSK 3717/24; Court of Appeal in Kraków, judgment of 20 January 2026, I ACa 50/25}. A finding of contributory fault does not mean an automatic reduction. The court may reduce the amount, but it does not have to^{4Court of Appeal in Lublin (Sąd Apelacyjny w Lublinie), judgment of 23 January 2025, I ACa 127/25; Supreme Court, decision of 13 October 2023, I CSK 5191/22}.

Dealing with the insurer

After a road accident you can claim directly from the insurer of the person liable (Article 19 paragraph 1 of the Compulsory Insurance Act). The insurer must pay within 30 days of the notification of the claim (Article 14 paragraph 1). If it is impossible to clarify the circumstances within that time, the insurer pays within 14 days of the date on which clarification was possible, but no later than 90 days after the notification, unless the decision depends on pending criminal or civil proceedings. The undisputed part must be paid within the original 30 days (Article 14 paragraph 2).

If the insurer refuses to pay or pays less than claimed, it must explain in writing the circumstances and the legal basis for its decision (Article 14 paragraph 3). If a court later awards more, interest may run from the end of the period the insurer had to pay, not from the judgment^{5Court of Appeal in Kraków (Sąd Apelacyjny w Krakowie), judgment of 9 December 2021, I ACa 916/20}.

A settlement covers only the claims the parties knew of or could foresee^{6Court of Appeal in Lublin (Sąd Apelacyjny w Lublinie), judgment of 27 March 2023, I ACa 482/22}. Even so, signing it makes a later claim much harder. It is worth checking an offer against what Polish courts award before accepting it.

Time limits

A claim for damage caused by a tort becomes time-barred three years after the injured person learned, or could have learned with due care, about the damage and the person liable, but no later than ten years after the event (Article 442¹ § 1). For personal injury, the period cannot end earlier than three years after the injured person learned about the damage and the person liable (Article 442¹ § 3). If the damage resulted from a criminal offence, the period is 20 years from the offence (Article 442¹ § 2).

If the injured person dies

The claim for compensation for harm passes to the heirs only if it was acknowledged in writing or a lawsuit was filed during the injured person’s lifetime (Article 445 § 3). Where the injuries are severe, this is a reason not to delay the claim. The family’s own claims after a death are described in the guide fatal road accident in Poland.

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