Permanent functional impairment
A head of bodily injury damages that compensates, after consolidation, the permanent reduction in the victim's physical, psychosensory or intellectual potential and its effects on daily life.
Permanent functional impairment is the central head of damages for physical after-effects in French law. Once the victim's condition is consolidated, the medical expert sets a rate of permanent impairment to physical and mental integrity, on a medical scale from 1 to 100 percent. This rate does not measure lost income, which falls under other heads, but the permanent reduction in the person's abilities and the pain, disorders and loss of quality of life that go with it. The award is usually calculated by the point method: a point value, which falls with the victim's age and rises with the rate, is multiplied by the rate, according to indicative guidelines published by the courts of appeal. The head gained new importance in 2023, when the full Court of Cassation ruled that the annuity paid to work accident victims does not compensate permanent functional impairment, which allows it to be claimed in addition where the employer committed inexcusable fault. For the insurer, the rate set by the expert is the main driver of the cost of a serious bodily injury claim, hence the importance of joint medical examination and the choice of scale.
Textbook case: a 35-year-old victim is left, after consolidation, with a 20 percent permanent impairment rate. Under the court of appeal's guidelines, the point is worth about 2,800 euros at this age and rate: the award for permanent functional impairment approaches 56,000 euros, excluding other heads.
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