Judgment of Court of Appeal in Katowice, I Civil Department
10 May 2007
Case No. I ACa 71/07
and
Judgment of Regional Court in Katowice, I Civil Department
24 November 2006
Case No. I C 538/04
Redress for grievance suffered by residing abroad as a result from car accident
1. The amount of redress for grievance shall comply with individual characteristic of the injured party - residing abroad and entitled to claim for redress in Poland, his subjective feelings and the standard of life in the place of residence. The amount of redress for grievance shall be subject to the incurred harm and circumstances in the place of residence. Establishing the standard of life according to circumstances in the place of residence is crucial as the redress shall be financially significant and not only symbolic.
2. Court's aim to award the redress within the reasonable scope, in compliance with actual circumstances and average standard of life, shall not infringe the compensatory function of redress for grievance.
3. In case of awarding the redress according to circumstances present on the date of closing the case, interest shall accrue since the date of issuing the judgment.
Deadline date for paying damages
4. Insurance company shall pay the damages within 30 days from notification about the accident. Damages subject to clarification of the circumstances necessary for assuming the liability of insurance company or the amount of the compensation which were not possible to adjudge within the 30 days, become due 14 days after clarification of the circumstances.
Expert opinion in car accident
5. The law of Civil Procedure does not impose the duty to hear the opinion of the another expert in car accident in case if the opinion issued earlier is not favourable for the party filing a motion for hearing another expert. In particular court is not obliged to hear another expert when the accusation of incompetence being the ground of the motion is based only on the fact that the opinion of court expert is different than pre-trial one and other accusations are not true or refer to unimportant circumstances.