Permanent disfigurement
The non-pecuniary head of loss that compensates, after consolidation, the permanent alteration of the victim's physical appearance, scars, amputation, limp, rated by the expert on a scale of one to seven.
Permanent disfigurement compensates the suffering linked to a lasting alteration of appearance, as the victim experiences it in relation to others: visible scars, facial deformity, loss of a limb, prosthetics, altered gait. The expert rates it on a scale of one to seven, considering the location, extent and visibility of the harm, and the court or insurer converts it into an award using reference tables. The Dintilhac classification distinguishes it from temporary disfigurement, suffered before consolidation, for example while wearing an external fixator or a neck brace. The same rating does not call for the same award depending on age, sex no longer being a criterion in principle, and on profession, when appearance is part of it. Facial scars in a child or young adult are among the situations where this head weighs most in the overall assessment.
A 22-year-old woman left with an eight-centimeter scar on her cheek after a 2023 accident is found to have permanent disfigurement rated 3 out of 7, compensated well above the same rating for a scar on the calf.
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