Loss of family life prospects
The permanent non-pecuniary head of loss that compensates the loss of hope and chance of carrying out a normal family life plan, marrying, starting a family, because of the severity of the disability.
Under the Dintilhac classification, this head compensates the loss of hope, chance or any possibility of carrying out a family life plan because of the severity of the victim's permanent disability. It mainly concerns young, severely disabled victims, spinal cord or brain injury cases, whose after-effects make married life or raising children very difficult. It is distinct from the permanent functional deficit, which compensates impairment of functions and the general loss of quality of life, and from sexual harm, which compensates impairment of sexual function and reproduction. Case law requires case-by-case assessment, according to the victim's age and situation, and accepts that it may exist even when the victim already lives with a partner, if the disability upends the family plan. For the insurer, it is an additional item in the heaviest files, where each non-pecuniary head is debated separately.
A 19-year-old man left paraplegic after a 2022 accident obtains, in addition to his permanent functional deficit, an award for loss of family life prospects, the court finding that his disability permanently compromises his plan to start a family.
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