Injury, bodily harm and work accidents: heads of damage, the 2024 Indicative Table and the work accident scheme

In short

• In Belgium an injured person can be compensated through two separate routes. Ordinary-law compensation comes from the liable person or their insurer and is based on full and concrete compensation; the 2024 Indicative Table is used for items that cannot be documented. Work accident benefits are paid by the employer’s work accident insurer without any question of fault, but they are flat-rate and capped.
• The two schemes work together. The work accident insurer pays first and recovers what it paid from the liable party. You claim from the liable party the items that work accident benefits do not cover (non-pecuniary damage, property damage, loss of income above the cap). The same loss is never paid twice.
• An accident on the way to or from work is also a work accident (Work Accidents Act of 10.4.1971, art. 8). A short interruption or minor detour for a legitimate reason does not make the journey “abnormal” (Cass. 8.11.1999).
• In a work accident, the permanent incapacity rate is not purely medical; it measures the loss of economic value on the labour market. You can challenge the rate proposed by the insurer and go to the labour court. Procedural costs are as a rule borne by the insurer (art. 68).
• Time limits: 3 years for work accident benefits (art. 69), 3 years for revision if your condition worsens after the rate is final (art. 72), 5 years for a direct action against the liable party’s insurer (Insurance Act, art. 88 §2).
• Go to medical examinations and assessments with your own medical adviser. Advance receipts may not contain a “full and final settlement” clause.

This guide answers two questions: which losses can be claimed separately, and how do your rights combine if the accident is also a work accident? We first explain the difference between the two schemes, then two common work accident problems, and then the heads of damage and amounts.

If you were injured: step by step

1. Report the accident. If it happened at work or on the way to work, tell your employer straight away. The employer must report the accident to the work accident insurer within 8 days; if it does not, you can report it yourself or contact Fedris. If it was a road accident, take the other party’s details and those of your own insurer.
2. Notify your legal expenses insurer. If you have a policy, it may cover your lawyer and your own medical adviser (within its limits and excess); in court, arbitration or mediation you choose your lawyer freely (Insurance Act, art. 156). If you are a trade union member, a union representative holding a written power of attorney can represent you and plead for you before the labour court (Judicial Code, art. 728 §3).
3. Keep a complete medical file. Emergency report, hospital and surgery papers, physiotherapy records, incapacity certificates, every invoice and travel cost.
4. Ask for an advance. In a road accident, if the damage is not yet known, the liable party’s insurer must at least offer an advance covering the costs incurred and the undisputed temporary incapacity. An advance receipt may not say “full and final settlement”.
5. Wait for consolidation. Permanent rates can only be set once your condition no longer changes; a file closed too early can leave permanent damage unpaid.
6. Attend the medical examination with your own doctor. If you still disagree, a court-appointed expert can be requested: from the police court for a road accident, from the labour court for a work accident.
7. Check the offer item by item. Under ordinary law, temporary and permanent personal, household and economic damage must each be calculated. In a work accident, the offer must state the rate, the basic salary and the consolidation date.

Two schemes: ordinary-law compensation and work accident benefits

How do they combine?

• The work accident insurer keeps paying even if a third party is liable (art. 46 §2, art. 48bis).
• For the heads of bodily injury covered by the Work Accidents Act, the two forms of compensation cannot be combined. Items the Act does not cover are claimed separately from the liable party (art. 46 §2). This is the “top-up claim”: non-pecuniary damage, aesthetic damage, property damage, loss of income above the cap, and the amount by which the ordinary-law calculation exceeds the flat-rate benefits.
• The work accident insurer recovers what it paid from the liable party or its insurer (art. 47). In a road accident it claims from the liable vehicle’s insurer or from the Common Guarantee Fund (art. 48ter). It cannot claim items it did not pay, such as non-pecuniary damage.
• Can you sue your employer? As a rule, no; because the employer insures work accidents, it is immune from ordinary-law liability. The exceptions are limited: intent, damage to the worker’s property, commuting accidents, road accidents, and a serious safety breach despite a written warning from inspectors (art. 46 §1).
• Who is covered? The Act applies to people who, as workers or employers, are subject to the employees’ social security scheme (ONSS, Act of 27.6.1969) (art. 1). Since 1.1.2020 it also covers trainees working as part of training for paid work (art. 1/1). If you are self-employed (indépendant), this scheme does not apply to you; your protection is your health insurance fund benefits and your private insurance. Public-sector staff fall under a separate Act (3.7.1967) (art. 4).

I had an accident on my way to work and the insurer says I left my route: what now?

A short detour or interruption for a good reason does not stop the accident from being a work accident. A significant detour for personal reasons can. The outcome depends on the facts.

The rule. An accident on the way to or from work also counts as a work accident. The journey starts when you cross the threshold of your home and ends when you reach work, and the other way round. What is protected is the normal route (trajet normal) you need to take from home to work (Work Accidents Act, art. 8 §1). The Act expressly treats two detours as normal: detours needed for car-sharing (covoiturage) and taking children to or from childcare or school. Going to and from the place where you eat and certain other journeys are also covered (art. 8 §2).

Short detours and interruptions. A normal route has both a spatial and a time dimension.

• According to the Court of Cassation, an interruption that is not significant in length and has a legitimate reason does not make the route abnormal, and an accident during that interruption is still a commuting accident. A significant interruption not justified by force majeure does make the route abnormal (Cass. 8.11.1999, S.98.0047.F).
• Courts look at the length together with the reason. The Ghent Labour Court of Appeal accepted a 1.9 km detour and a 30-35 minute stop to visit an elderly father in need of care after work (28.6.2001). Stopping for 20-30 minutes to move stray horses off the road was also accepted as legitimate (Antwerp Labour Court of Appeal, 9.1.2001). By contrast, a private meeting at night on the way home to look at holiday photos with an acquaintance made the route abnormal, even assuming it lasted only 20 minutes, because it had no legitimate reason (Ghent Labour Court of Appeal, 16.11.2000). According to the court, stops required by the necessities of daily life can be legitimate; stops made purely for personal enjoyment are not.
• A worker who did not know the area and chose familiar main roads rather than the shortest route so as not to get lost was not treated as making a detour (Mons Labour Court of Appeal, 10.6.1988).

Proof. For a commuting accident you must prove the sudden event, the injury and that you were on the normal route; if the place or time was unusual, you must explain it (Brussels Labour Court of Appeal, 8.10.2007 and 4.4.2022). Once you prove the sudden event and the injury, the injury is presumed to result from the accident (art. 9). The presumption that applies at the workplace, that an accident during work happened because of work (art. 7, para. 2), does not help here; what matters is whether the route was normal. Navigation data, times, witnesses and school or childcare documents can help.

Practical steps:

• Ask for the insurer’s refusal in writing. An insurer that refuses a case must inform Fedris and your health insurance fund within 30 days. Fedris may investigate (art. 63).
• If the refusal stands, you can go to the labour court. The time limit is, as a rule, 3 years from the day of the accident (art. 69). Waiting for the insurer’s refusal does not stop the clock: the period runs from when the right to compensation arises, not from the insurer’s decision, and it runs even if the refusal letter lacks mandatory information (Cass. 8.10.1979; Cass. 16.3.2015, S.12.0102.F). A registered letter interrupts the limitation period (art. 70). Unless the claim is reckless and vexatious, the insurer pays the costs (art. 68).
• Meanwhile your health insurance fund pays incapacity benefits and later recovers them from the insurer.
• If it was a road accident, see also the section below on work accidents that are road accidents: even if it is not a work accident, art. 29bis or the other party’s insurer may pay.

After a work accident my permanent incapacity rate was set very low: how do I challenge it?

You do not have to accept the proposed rate. You can ask the insurer to correct it on the basis of your own medical adviser’s report and, if there is no agreement, go to the labour court. The court will appoint an independent medical expert.

What does the rate measure? In a work accident, permanent incapacity is the reduction of the victim’s economic value on the general labour market (Cass. 26.10.2009, S.08.0146.F). It is not just a physical impairment rate. Courts consider the nature of the disability, your age and ability to adapt, your occupation, retraining options, your qualifications and your competitiveness on the labour market (Antwerp Labour Court of Appeal, 10.9.2012). If you can no longer do your old job, this should be reflected in the rate.

Why does the rate matter? For permanent incapacity, the annual allowance equals basic salary × rate. If the rate is below 5%, the allowance is cut by 50%; between 5% and 10%, by 25% (art. 24). Example: with a €40,000 basic salary, an 8% rate gives 40,000 × 0.08 × 0.75 = €2,400 a year; a 10% rate gives €4,000. When the revision period ends, the allowance becomes a life annuity.

The procedure:

1. The offer. The insurer proposes a compensation agreement (accord-indemnité). It must state the permanent rate, the basic salary and the consolidation date. The agreement has no effect until Fedris approves it. Fedris only checks that it complies with the law and approves it within 3 months (art. 65).
2. Before signing. You can send the insurer your own medical adviser’s full report and ask for the agreement to be adjusted. You or the insurer can ask for a Fedris doctor to act as conciliator on the rate and the consolidation date (art. 64bis-64ter; the procedure is set by the Royal Decree of 5.3.2006). If either side rejects the conciliator’s proposal, the case goes to the labour court and the conciliator’s report is filed with the court. Two royal decrees of 17.7.2014 that extended this procedure were annulled by the Council of State (16.2.2017, no. 237.391); the basic procedure remains in force.
3. Court action. Without agreement, apply to the labour court. The judge appoints an expert; you attend with your own doctor. The court can award an advance as a daily allowance and an amount for expert costs until the case is clear (art. 66). Procedural costs (bailiff, court fees, expert) are borne by the insurer; your own lawyer’s and doctor’s fees are yours (Fedris).
4. Time limits. The claim for payment is time-barred after 3 years (art. 69). If the insurer declared you “recovered without permanent incapacity”, you have 3 years from the notification to challenge that decision (art. 69, last paragraph). An appeal against a first-instance judgment must be lodged within 1 month of its service by a bailiff (signification) (Judicial Code, art. 1051). As long as the judgment has not been served, this period does not start.
5. Later worsening. If your condition worsens after the rate becomes final, you can ask for a revision within 3 years of Fedris’s approval or the final judgment (art. 72). This period cannot be extended; plan a check-up before it ends.

Note: The work accident rate is not the same as the ordinary-law rates. If a third party is liable, ordinary law sets separate rates for personal, household and economic damage (see “Permanent losses” below).

When a work accident is also a road accident: work accident insurance, art. 29bis and the liable party’s insurance

If you had a road accident on the way to work or while working, three insurers may be involved.

• The work accident insurer pays the flat-rate benefits and keeps paying despite art. 29bis (art. 48bis). It then recovers from the liable vehicle’s insurer or the Common Guarantee Fund (art. 48ter).
• Art. 29bis: If you were a pedestrian, cyclist or passenger, your bodily injury is paid regardless of fault by the insurer of the motor vehicle involved (1989 Act, art. 29bis). The part of the 29bis compensation not covered by the Work Accidents Act can be combined with work accident benefits (art. 48bis §2).
• The liable party’s insurance: If the other party was at fault, you claim from them the items that work accident benefits do not cover. See the guides on vulnerable road users and cyclists and e-bikes.
• The employer: For commuting and road accidents, an ordinary-law claim can also be brought against the employer and co-workers (art. 46 §1, 5° and 6°).
• In practice: Join the work accident insurer and the health insurance fund to the ordinary-law proceedings, so that who recovers what is settled in one case. The Liège Court of Appeal judgment of 7.2.2023 (2021/RG/526) shows, item by item, how the two schemes were combined in a commuting accident that caused paraplegia.

Basic principles (ordinary-law compensation)

• Full and concrete compensation: the aim is to put you as close as possible to where you would have been without the accident (Civil Code Book 6, art. 6.30; for accidents before 1.1.2025, former art. 1382 et seq.).
• 2024 Indicative Table: a table of recommended amounts drawn up by a working group of judges, used for losses that cannot be proven concretely (such as non-material damage). A judge may depart from it by giving reasons.
• A pre-existing condition does not, as a rule, reduce compensation (art. 6.29).
• Worsening: you are entitled to extra compensation for new damage or aggravation that appears later; waiving damage that could not be foreseen in an earlier settlement is invalid (art. 6.37).
• Consolidation is the point at which the after-effects no longer change for better or worse. Losses before that date are “temporary”, losses after it are “permanent”. The medical expert sets the date. In a work accident too, the permanent allowance starts from this date (art. 24).

Temporary losses (until consolidation)

In a work accident, the daily benefit for full temporary incapacity is 90% of the average daily pay (art. 22). For the first 30 days the employer pays guaranteed salary.

Permanent losses (after consolidation)

Under ordinary law, the expert sets three separate permanent rates: personal (daily life), household and economic (work and the job market). The table gives a value per 1% based on your age at consolidation:

The 5% and 15% columns are simply the point value × the rate (for one permanent rate, flat-rate method); interest, other heads of damage and any share of fault are not included.

For household damage, this value is multiplied by your share in the household work (if no data: women 65%, men 35% under the table). For economic damage, a concrete, provable loss of income comes first.

In addition: aesthetic damage (scale 1/7–7/7; e.g. €2,300 for 2/7 at age 21–30), sexual damage, loss of amenity when you have to give up a sport or hobby you practised regularly, future medical costs and future third-party help. None of these items is paid under the work accident scheme; if a third party is liable, they are claimed from that party.

Future losses can be compensated as a lump sum, by capitalisation or as a periodic payment (annuity); the judge may order an annuity even if you didn’t ask for one, where your protection requires it (art. 6.34).

Death: damage suffered by relatives

In a fatal work accident, the surviving spouse receives a life annuity of 30% of the basic salary, children receive annuities at set rates, and a flat amount is paid towards funeral costs (art. 10-13). Relatives’ non-pecuniary damage does not exist in this scheme.

Other costs

Travel costs €0.42/km (car), administrative costs €50–150, clothing on average €400, loss of use of a car without a hire car €23/day.

Worked example (for illustration only)

Hypothetical example. Not a real case; amounts use only the flat-rate values of the 2024 Indicative Table. In your file, rates, days and concrete losses will differ.

A 30-year-old pedestrian; 5 days in hospital, 30 days of full and 60 days of 50% temporary incapacity; permanent personal rate 10%; aesthetic damage 2/7.

• Hospital: 5 × €39 = €195
• Full temporary incapacity: 30 × €32 = €960
• 50% temporary incapacity: 60 × €32 × 0.5 = €960
• Permanent personal 10%: 10 × €2,970 = €29,700
• Aesthetic 2/7: €2,300
• Subtotal ≈ €34,115; medical costs, loss of income, household damage, pain and interest come on top.

Flat-rate offer or capitalisation: examples from court rulings

For permanent damage, insurers often offer a flat-rate amount based on the per-point value in the indicative table. In some cases, however, courts calculate the loss by capitalisation: a daily amount, the disability rate and a life-expectancy table are used to convert future loss into a present-day capital sum. In the two appeal rulings below, this method produced a higher result than the flat-rate offer. The examples are for information only.

Every case is different; these examples are not a forecast. The outcome depends on the disability rate, age, apportionment of fault, the table the court chooses and the interest rate. Even the same chamber of a court may use different tables. It cannot be said that capitalisation will produce a higher amount in every case, and these examples are no commitment about the amount in your case.

Two 2026 rulings of the Court of Cassation are also relevant:

• Economic loss must be assessed in concreto. The material loss caused by permanent incapacity is the loss of your economic value on the labour market; loss of income and increased effort are manifestations of it. A judgment that rejected a salary-based calculation and applied a flat rate was quashed for breaching the principle of full and concrete compensation (Cass. 5.6.2026, C.25.0278.F).
• Delay is compensated too. Compensatory interest (intérêts compensatoires) is part of the compensation and covers the extra loss caused by delay in payment. If the judge does not update the amounts to the date of the judgment, compensatory interest must be awarded for both the loss of interest and the loss of the money’s value (Cass. 8.1.2026, C.24.0486.N).

Medical assessment and social security

• In a unilateral assessment, only the insurer’s doctor (médecin-conseil) examines you. In an amicable adversarial assessment, each side brings its own doctor, and a third doctor decides if they disagree. In a court assessment, the court appoints the expert.
• Bringing your own medical adviser is your right and is recommended. Your legal expenses insurance may cover the cost.
• Your health insurance fund (mutualité) may pay first and then recover what it paid from the liable insurer or the work accident insurer. The same loss is never paid twice (Coordinated Act of 14.7.1994, art. 136 §2).

If you cannot work: benefits from your health insurer (mutualité)

If you cannot work after the accident, you can receive incapacity benefits from your health insurer, separately from the liable insurer’s compensation. To the extent the work accident insurer pays, the mutualité does not; if the insurer has refused the accident or not yet decided, the mutualité pays and recovers later.

• Condition: Your earning capacity must have fallen to one third or less of what a person of the same standing and training can earn (a loss of at least two thirds). For the first six months this is assessed against your usual job; after that, other work you could do is also taken into account (Coordinated Act of 14.7.1994, art. 100 §1).
• Partial return to work: Possible with the prior consent of the medical adviser (médecin-conseil), provided you keep a medical loss of at least 50%. Benefits for days worked without consent are reclaimed (art. 100 §2, art. 101).
• Amount (employees, based on the gross daily wage):
  • First year (primary incapacity): 60%.
  • After one year (invalidity): 65% with dependants, 55% if you live alone, 40% if you cohabit.
  • The gross wage is capped by law; the maximum daily amount depends on when your invalidity started and is published in the INAMI table. Ask your mutualité for the calculation in writing.
• Extra allowance if you need help: If everyday tasks (moving around, eating, hygiene and dressing, housework, communication) are difficult, your mutualité can add a third-party assistance allowance to your benefit. It starts at the earliest in the 4th month of incapacity, is a flat daily amount for every day except Sunday and is tax-free; the medical adviser assesses it.
• Increased reimbursement (BIM / intervention majorée) is not automatic. Being in invalidity is not enough on its own; your household income must be under an annual ceiling. If you live alone, the mutualité checks your income itself; otherwise you must apply to the mutualité with an income declaration.
• Link with compensation: The same loss is not paid twice. The mutualité recovers what it paid from the liable insurer; the insurer pays you what the benefit does not cover (e.g. the gap between your real loss of income and the benefit, and non-pecuniary damage).

What the insurers must do, and time limits

• Road accident: The insurer of the liable or involved vehicle must make a reasoned offer or reply within 3 months; if the damage is not yet known, it must offer an advance covering at least costs incurred and undisputed temporary incapacity (1989 Act, art. 13).
• An advance offer, even partial, may not contain a “full and final settlement” (quittance pour solde) clause. Seek advice before signing a document containing such wording.
• As a pedestrian, cyclist or passenger, your bodily injury is paid regardless of fault (1989 Act, art. 29bis).
• You have 5 years to bring a direct action against the insurer (Insurance Act, art. 88 §2).
• Work accident: An insurer that refuses the case or doubts that the Act applies must inform Fedris within 30 days (art. 63). Claims for benefits: 3 years (art. 69); revision: 3 years (art. 72). Work accident benefits carry interest automatically from the date they fall due (art. 42). If the employer has no work accident insurance, Fedris pays (art. 73).
• For all time limits, see the deadlines guide.

Checklist

• Did the accident happen at work, on the way to work or in private life? Do I know who the work accident insurer is?
• If it happened on the way to work, do I have records showing I was on the normal route (times, navigation, witnesses, school or childcare documents)?
• Is a third party liable? If so, have I claimed from them the items work accident benefits do not cover?
• Have I notified my legal expenses insurer and, if relevant, my trade union?
• Did I attend the medical examination with my own medical adviser?
• Does the offer state the rate, basic salary and consolidation date? Does the rate reflect my economic loss?
• Have I noted the 3-year (work accident) and 5-year (liable party’s insurer) time limits and the end of the revision period?
• Have I told my mutualité about the accident and who is liable?

You can search case law on work accidents and bodily injury, by topic, on our Decision Search page.

Sources

• Work Accidents Act of 10.4.1971 (consolidated, art. 7-8, 22, 24, 42, 46-48ter, 63-73)
• Fedris, after the report: procedure (private sector)
• Fedris, what is a work accident?
• Fedris, benefits in the private sector
• Fedris, terminology and salary caps
• Fedris, reporting a work accident (private sector)
• Court of Cassation, 8.11.1999, S.98.0047.F
• Court of Cassation, 26.10.2009, S.08.0146.F
• Court of Cassation, 8.10.1979 (limitation runs from the day of the accident)
• Court of Cassation, 16.3.2015, S.12.0102.F (start of the limitation period)
• Judicial Code, Part Four (art. 728, 1051), consolidated
• De Bandt, Council of State 16.2.2017 no. 237.391 (annulment of the RDs of 17.7.2014)
• Ghent Labour Court of Appeal, 28.6.2001
• Ghent Labour Court of Appeal, 16.11.2000
• Antwerp Labour Court of Appeal, 9.1.2001, 99/1029
• Antwerp Labour Court of Appeal, 10.9.2012, 2011/AA/574
• Mons Labour Court of Appeal, 10.6.1988
• Brussels Labour Court of Appeal, 8.10.2007, 47.312
• Brussels Labour Court of Appeal, 4.4.2022, 2021/AB/55 (proof of a commuting accident)
• Constitutional Court, 4.6.2009, no. 94/2009 (union representative before the labour court, Judicial Code art. 728 §3)
• Liège Court of Appeal, 7.2.2023, 2021/RG/526
• Indicatieve Tabel 2024, full text (OVB)
• OVB, what’s new in the 2024 table
• Legalstreet, guide to the 2024 Indicative Table
• Assuralia, the indicative table
• AWSR, compensation of damage
• Motor Insurance Act of 21 November 1989, consolidated
• Act of 7.2.2024, Civil Code Book 6
• Liège Court of Appeal, 8.2.2023, 2021/RG/306
• Liège Court of Appeal, 7.12.2022, 2021/RG/920
• Court of Cassation, 5.6.2026, C.25.0278.F
• Court of Cassation, 8.1.2026, C.24.0486.N
• Constitutional Court 20.10.2022, no. 131/2022 (text of art. 100–101)
• Liège Labour Court of Appeal 20.12.2023, 2022/AL/530 (minimum rates under art. 93; RD 3.7.1996 art. 225–226)
• Liège Labour Court of Appeal 13.11.2024, 2023/AL/422 (first-six-months rule)
• INAMI, calculating incapacity benefits (employees and jobseekers)
• INAMI, maximum daily invalidity benefit 2026
• INAMI, third-party assistance allowance
• INAMI, increased reimbursement (intervention majorée)

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Current as of 09.10.2026.