Following a motor vehicle accident, the RAF is liable for past hospital and medical expenses, past and future loss of earnings, loss of support (where a breadwinner is deceased) plus reasonable funeral expenses and pain and suffering or disfigurement of the accident victim. Each of these heads of damages needs to be proven and this onus rests on the claimant via their attorney.

The first hurdle in claiming from the RAF is establishing whether the RAF is in fact liable. You cannot be the author of your own demise. If you were the negligent driver of a vehicle, the chances are great that you will not be able to claim from the RAF. The RAF covers the negligent driver and compensates the innocent accident victim for their damages or losses. The apportionment of blame is referred to as the preponderance of probabilities. In other words, if a driver of a vehicle contributes to an accident, his damages claim will be apportioned proportionately according to his contributory negligence (eg 80/20). In this case, only 80% of the proven damages will be recoverable from the RAF by the claimant. This is why it is critically important to secure proficient legal representation. This apportionment is applicable to all the heads of damages. Any passengers and children under the age of 7 will not be subject to this apportionment as passengers cannot contribute to the accident and thus cannot be liable and no blame can be attributed to any children under the age of 7 years.

The RAF is a government organization providing compulsory insurance cover to all road users in South Africa. The RAF’s finances are derived from a tax on petrol and diesel whereby R2.18 per litre sold is deducted as a tax to sustain the fund. The nett result is that everyone contributes thus everyone is entitled to claim in the event of an accident-related incident where injuries have been sustained.

The RAF Amendment Act 2008 gave rise to a new system whereby an injury has to be classified as serious or having long term side effects in order to qualify for compensation. Four distinct categories of automatically qualifying serious injuries were identified namely: serious long term impairment or loss of bodily function / permanent serious disfigurement / severe long term mental or behavioural disturbance disorder / loss of a foetus. Minor injuries such as whiplash are no longer covered by the RAF. Attorneys utilize medical and earnings experts to prove the existence of long term accident-related sequelae.

The onus to prove the claim rests with the Plaintiff thus it is imperative that the RAF is placed in a position to make an offer based on the evidence submitted. Your attorney will request the following information/documents at the initial consultation to facilitate this narrative:

1. Officers Accident Report

2. Medical records (hospitals visited and doctors seen)

3. Photographs of the injuries, vehicles, accident scene and x/rays

4. Proof of earnings prior to the accident (payslips, bank statements, IRP5, employment contract)

5. Witness details

6. Copy of ID or passport

RAF claims are convoluted and intricate to prove. For the first 12 to 18 months following an accident injury, a medico-legal expert cannot be consulted as the claimant will need to reach MMI (Maximum Medical Improvement). This means that the injury has reached it’s best possible prognosis and any side effects are most likely permanent. Coupled with this period, your attorney will need to navigate the RAF’s internal policies and procedures as well as the relevant court directives in bringing the matter to fruition. From inception to settlement can take between 3 to 5 years.

Personal injury attorneys, specifically RAF attorneys, generally litigate matters on behalf of their clients on a contingency basis. This merely means that the attorney will run the matter on a no win / no fee basis and you will not be asked to pay for anything up front or throughout the claim process. Should the claim be successful, the attorney will be entitled to a success fee of 25% of the recovered amount or double his hourly rate (whichever is the lesser of the two). Roberts & Associates Inc. do not operate on a Contingency fee agreement but on an attorney client basis whereby we will only bill for what we actually did on the matter. Our fees are thus not subject to a percentage of what your claim’s value is but on actual legal work undertaken. For client peace of mind, we confirm that a self-imposed limitation on our fees is in place whereby the claimant will always receive at least 75% of their claim proceeds as well as all recovered party & party costs.

Life is full of choices and whether to claim from the RAF or not remains the choice of the accident victim. Should you choose not to claim and the prescription period passes, you will not be permitted to claim should issues arise at a later stage. The proverbial, “you cannot ride the train without a ticket” applies. Your ticket to ensuring that you have coverage for accident-related future medical care and compensation for your damages begins with the lodgement of your claim within the prescribed period of 3 years (for identified negligent drivers) or 2 years (in the event of a hit and run accident).