Organisation : Law Society of South Africa
Name of Facility: Claiming from the Road Accident Fund
Location : Pretoria
Website : http://www.lssa.org.za/legal-practitioners/resources-for-attorneys/misc/public-information-brochures/misc/claiming-from-the-raf:-why-use-an-attorney
Download Guidelines : https://www.southafricain.com/uploads/7133-ClaimingRAF.pdf
Claiming from the Road Accident Fund :
Who can claim?
** You can claim only if the accident was not all your fault.
** A dependant of a breadwinner can claim if the breadwinner was not entirely to blame for the accident.
Related : Law Society of South Africa pplying For a Temporary or Permanent Residence Visa : www.southafricain.com/7128.html
** You can claim if you were a passenger in a car, taxi, bus, truck, bakkie or on a motorbike and suffered injuries in an accident.
** You cannot claim if you did not suffer any injuries in the accident.
** You may not be able to claim if the injuries suffered were not ‘serious’.
** If the deceased had no dependants, there may be no claim arising from his/her death.
Do you need an attorney?
** You can claim direct from the RAF, but claiming from the RAF is a complicated and technical process;
** medical reports (RAF 1 and RAF 4) need to be completed by doctors, and paid for;
** documents need to be obtained from the South African Police Service, and paid for;
** an affidavit explaining how the accident took place must be prepared and lodged with your claim;
** medical records need to be obtained from hospitals and doctors, and paid for;
** you need to quantify your claim – that is state in your claim form what you are claiming for various heads of damages such as pain and suffering, loss of amenities of life,disfigurement, disability and shock (general damages), loss of income, loss of earning capacity, future medical costs and past expenses (special damages);
How much will it cost?
** Most attorneys specialising in personal injury claims will be prepared to take your case either
** on a contingency basis (no win, no fee basis); or
** in terms of a fees agreement, where the attorney will charge a normal fee in terms of an agreed tariff.
** The attorney may be prepared to wait until the end of the case for payment of all the costs including expenses.
** Many attorneys specialising in personal injury cases will also undertake to incur and/or pay for all disbursements required in order to prepare your claim, including obtaining medical records and medico-legal reports on the basis that they will be repaid those costs out of the proceeds of your claim.
** Some of these costs will be recovered from the RAF as part of the party-andparty costs for which they may be liable.
Can you claim direct from the RAF?
** Yes you can. The RAF has an active outreach programme and employs information officers at its branch offices. It has also appointed representatives in all major government hospitals.
** While in hospital you may be approached by an agent of the RAF offering to assist you to make a claim direct.
** You are not obliged to agree to claim direct from the RAF (a direct claim) or to appoint an attorney recommended to you by someone who has approached you in hospital or elsewhere.
** You have the right to appoint your own attorney.
** Check that an attorney is registered and in good standing with the relevant provincial law society.
** Although the RAF will assist you by explaining how to claim and help you fill in a claim form, you will need to obtain and pay for all the supporting documents required, including medical reports and records.
** The RAF is the very body against whom you are claiming and it is their job to investigate and exclude all claims it considers that it is not obliged to pay.
How much time do you have to claim?
** Claims need to be lodged within 3 years from the date of the accident if the driver and/or owner of the vehicle at fault has been identified.
** If it is not possible to identify the owner or driver of the vehicle at fault, then the claim must be lodged within 2 years.
** After the claim is lodged there is a waiting period of 120 days.
** After that summons may be issued within 5 years from the date of the accident. If your claim is lodged late or summons is not served in time, your claim will become unenforceable (prescribed).
Contact Address :
Law Society of South Africa
304 Brooks Street, Menlo Park, Pretoria
P O Box 36626, Menlo Park 0102
Docex 82, Pretoria