Consolidation (bodily injury)
The point at which a victim's injuries stabilize and become permanent, which separates temporary from permanent losses and opens the final assessment of compensation.
Consolidation is a medico-legal notion: it refers to the date from which the victim's condition is no longer likely to improve significantly with treatment, even if maintenance care is still needed. It does not mean recovery, but stabilization. The whole structure of bodily injury compensation is organized around it: before, temporary losses are compensated, lost income, temporary functional deficit, pain and suffering; after, permanent losses are assessed, permanent functional deficit, future loss of earnings, attendant care. The medical expert sets it, and its date has financial consequences: it triggers the calculation of annuities and lump sums, starts certain time limits, and determines when the insurer can make a final offer. For claims handling, an unconsolidated file remains reserved on an estimate, which explains the long development of bodily injury lines.
A motorcyclist injured in June 2022 is declared consolidated by the expert in September 2024: his 27 months off work are compensated as temporary loss of earnings, then his after-effects, assessed at 12% permanent functional deficit, open the calculation of permanent losses.
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