A stabilized state of lasting reduction in earning capacity, paid as an annuity based on a disability rating and a category scale.
Permanent disability presupposes a consolidated condition, that is, medically stabilized with no further significant improvement expected, and it is measured by a rating rather than as a yes or no fact. The French social security system sorts it into three categories by what the claimant can still do: able to hold some paid work, unable to hold any, or in addition unable to perform the ordinary acts of daily life without help, this last category opening a third party care supplement. Supplementary protection cover builds on that classification and pays an annuity until retirement age, when the old age pension takes over. The contractual entry threshold is the sensitive point: below a given rating nothing is due, between two thresholds the annuity is scaled down pro rata, above it the annuity is full, and two contracts advertising the same annuity can differ entirely in where those thresholds sit. The problem solved is the definitive loss of earning capacity before the age at which retirement takes over.
Article L. 341-4 of the French social security code sets the three disability categories and their replacement rates, 30% of the average annual salary of the ten best years for the first category and 50% for the other two, the third carrying a third party care supplement. Supplementary cover fills the gap to previous income, within what the indemnity principle allows.
invalidité absolue et définitive, IPP