Getting informal care and personal care reimbursed after an accident

After an accident, your partner helps you shower, your daughter puts on your compression stockings or a neighbour drives you to appointments. That help may seem a matter of course, but it can take a great deal of time and energy. If someone else is liable for the accident, necessary help can form part of your personal injury claim. Under certain conditions, this also applies when family members do not send an invoice.

Written by Onur Arslan, attorney at Arslan Advocaten. Registered in the specialisation register of the Netherlands Bar for employment law and personal injury. Last updated: 17 September 2026.

With informal care and personal injury, it is not just about the number of hours. First, it must be clear what help is needed because of the injury, who provides it and what compensation is appropriate. Personal care, household help, supervision and nursing each have different characteristics. A careful overview prevents important care from being left out or the same activity from being counted twice.

In brief

• Care costs cover more than household help: personal care, assistance and supervision can also be compensated.
• Unpaid help from a partner or family can also constitute damage, provided it is necessary extra care resulting from the accident.
• Distinguish between normal family care and extra help; only the extra part counts as damage.
• A usable record of hours states the date, task, duration and who provided the help, and is realistic rather than identical every week.
• Coordinate public provisions (Wmo social support, Zvw health insurance, Wlz long-term care) with the claim to prevent both double counting and gaps; see the household help guideline.

In this article you will read how to record your need for help, what unpaid family help means and how a damages claim fits in with existing care provisions. We also discuss the burden on informal carers and arrangements for the future.

What help counts as care costs

Care costs arise when, because of an injury, you need help that you would not have needed without the accident. Think of support with washing, dressing, eating, moving around and using the toilet. Necessary assistance or supervision may also be relevant. The precise scope depends on your limitations and the circumstances at home.

Household help covers, for example, cleaning, cooking and laundry. Personal care is focused on you as a person. Nursing may consist of procedures that require specific expertise. One family member can provide different types of help on the same day. That is why it is useful to record the activities separately.

A diagnosis alone says too little about the need for care. Two people with the same injury may need different support. Your home, family situation, age, recovery and available aids all help determine what is necessary in practice. So always describe what you can do independently, what you can manage with an aid and what someone has to help you with.

When can informal care be compensated

For compensation, there must be a legal basis for recovering the damage from another party. Next, the help must be connected to the accident and the costs claimed must be reasonable. There is no general rule that every hour a family member is present is paid in full.

Nor does the fact that family provide the help voluntarily mean that there can be no damage. The assessment may take into account whether it would be normal and customary to engage professional help for it. The nature of the work, its intensity and its necessity matter more than the mere absence of an invoice.

Do not wait to raise the claim until the informal carer becomes overburdened. Discuss necessary help early in the claims process. An interim arrangement on tasks, hours and compensation can provide peace of mind while recovery and long-term needs are still being investigated. Make clear which period that arrangement covers.

Distinguishing normal family care from extra help

Within a family, people help each other even without an accident. Perhaps your partner already did the shopping and you normally cooked the evening meal. For the calculation of damages, it must become clear what changes as a result of the injury. An overview of the situation before the accident is therefore just as important as the current care record.

Note which tasks you used to do yourself, roughly how much time they took and how they are divided now. This is not about keeping perfect records of the past. Work schedules, family arrangements and a concrete explanation can together give a credible picture. Avoid estimates made after the event that do not match everyday life.

Extra supervision also deserves attention. A partner who used to go for walks with you is not automatically providing compensable care by doing so. If that same partner now has to support you constantly because of a risk of falling, the situation is different. Describe which limitation makes their presence necessary and how often it occurs.

Setting up a usable record of hours

A simple record is usually easier to keep up than a complicated form. Note for each day the activity, the duration, the person helping and a short reason. For example, write that your partner helped you wash and dress for twenty minutes because you could not use one arm. That is more concrete than the description ‘helped all morning’.

Also record whether several tasks were carried out at the same time. An informal carer can supervise while cooking, but that does not automatically justify two full hours added together. Where constant supervision is necessary, a different assessment may be appropriate than for separate care tasks. Have that situation investigated separately.

Keep the record in a fixed place and discuss it regularly with your legal representative. Changes in recovery, treatment or aids can change the time needed. An overview that moves with reality supports the claim better than months of identical figures without explanation.

Example of a record of hours

A record does not have to be complicated. This layout contains exactly the information an insurer or expert looks at. The figures below are a fictitious example.

Date	Task	Who	Duration	Why necessary	Did you do this yourself before the accident?
Mon 2 Sep	Washing and dressing	Partner	20 min	Right arm cannot bear load, arm sling	Yes
Mon 2 Sep	Preparing a meal	Partner	30 min	Cannot chop while standing	Shared, about half
Tue 3 Sep	Transport to physiotherapy	Daughter	50 min	Not allowed to drive	Yes, drove myself
Tue 3 Sep	Wound care	Home care service	15 min	Hospital prescription, invoiced	Not applicable
Wed 4 Sep	Washing and dressing	Partner	10 min	Better day, less help needed	Yes
Wed 4 Sep	Supervision while showering	Partner	15 min	Dizzy when standing up	No, new

Several informal carers: agree on one way of recording

If several family members help, agree on one simple way of recording. Use the same task descriptions and state who actually provided the help. This prevents a journey or care moment from being claimed by two people as the same full service.

For example, schedule a short weekly check of the overview. Are the hours realistic, are any costs missing and has the need changed? Discuss differences straight away, while everyone still remembers the week. Records kept jointly are usually clearer than piecing together loose recollections months later.

Also record that any compensation does not automatically imply a commitment that family will continue to provide care indefinitely. Future availability must be discussed separately. This leaves room to arrange professional replacement if work, health or the family situation changes, and prevents a temporary solution from being tacitly budgeted as a permanent arrangement.

Which documents support the need

A treatment report can explain why you need help, but does not always contain a complete care plan. Additional information from an occupational therapist, nurse or other suitable expert can clarify which activities you can safely carry out independently. Ask for information about your functioning, not just about a diagnosis.

Useful documents include discharge information, care assessments, arrangements with home care, advice on aids and invoices. Add your own overview of activities and limitations. If a provision is refused, keep that decision and the reasons for it as well. This shows which help is actually available and which part remains unresolved.

Share medical information selectively. An insurer is not automatically entitled to receive your full medical history directly. Discuss which information is necessary and which medical adviser will assess it. This protects your privacy and keeps the discussion focused on the relevant care question.

How is reasonable compensation determined

The value of help depends on the task, the expertise required, the circumstances and the applicable method of assessing damages. A rate for housework is not automatically suitable for personal care or nursing procedures. Nor can a commercial rate be applied to all family help without further explanation.

The guidelines and recommendations of the Dutch Personal Injury Council (De Letselschade Raad) can offer a starting point in suitable situations. Check the applicable version, target group and conditions. If a standard approach does not adequately describe your specific need for help, an individual substantiation may be necessary.

Ask for a calculation you can follow. It should show the activities, numbers of hours, amounts used, period and any deduction of other benefits. A total amount without explanation makes it difficult to judge whether personal care, supervision and future changes have been sufficiently taken into account.

Loss of income of an informal carer

Sometimes a partner takes unpaid leave or a family member cuts down on work to provide care. That may be an understandable choice, but the full salary lost is not automatically the yardstick for compensation. It must be examined which damage is legally recoverable and how it relates to reasonable substitute care.

So explore the different options in advance. Can professional help take over part of the care? Is temporary leave sufficient? Which care moments are difficult to organise in any other way? The choice must suit the needs of the injured person and the circumstances of the family. Simply submitting payslips afterwards may not be enough.

Also discuss who holds the claim and how payment will be recorded. Third-party costs and the victim’s own damage are not always the same thing legally. Clear arrangements prevent family members from becoming uncertain among themselves about amounts received, or different claims from unintentionally overlapping.

Public provisions and the damages claim

Care can also be provided through health insurance, the municipality or another statutory scheme. Which route is appropriate depends on the care need and the applicable conditions. A personal injury claim does not automatically replace that assessment. Conversely, an existing provision does not mean that all accident-related care has been fully arranged.

Distinguish between help that has been granted, help that is actually provided and payments you make yourself. A decision granting support does not mean that someone will be available at every necessary moment. Waiting times, personal contributions and reasonable additional care may be relevant, but must be substantiated specifically.

Avoid double compensation. If the same care is already paid for in full, it cannot be claimed again as your own costs. So keep track, for each activity, of who pays, for what period and to whom. With a personal budget (pgb), the care agreement and payment records are also important.

Professional care alongside family help

Family members know your habits and can mean a lot to you, but they do not have to keep carrying out every task. Some activities require expertise. Other help is simple in itself but becomes heavy because of its frequency. The question of which combination is appropriate deserves attention before exhaustion sets in.

A care expert can help spread the need across the day and night. Safety, privacy, availability and continuity all play a role. A plan that only works as long as one partner is always at home can be vulnerable. Holidays, illness and the informal carer’s work must also be covered in practical terms.

When requesting quotes, ask for a clear description of the work and costs. Specify any minimum duration per visit, travel time or surcharges where these actually apply. This allows the insurer to assess reasonableness and limits surprises afterwards. Where possible, agree an expensive structural solution in advance.

Temporary help and permanent support

After a fracture, the need for care may decrease, whereas permanent injury requires long-term support. So distinguish between the recovery period and the expected situation afterwards. An average over the entire first year can hide peaks after operations or, conversely, the phasing out of help.

Future care requires assumptions about duration, intensity, provisions and cost trends. Those assumptions must be consistent with expert information. Not every possible deterioration can be included as established, but real uncertainties should not disappear either just because a final settlement is administratively simpler.

For long-term care, discuss whether periodic payments, a reassessment or a precisely worded reservation are appropriate. Such arrangements require clear conditions. Record when the matter will be reviewed, what information is needed and who decides on a change. A vague promise that the parties will consult later offers little certainty.

Making the burden on the family visible

Care often changes the relationships within a family. A partner also becomes a carer and children take over tasks. Not every emotional or practical burden leads to separate compensation, but it can show why a care plan is not sustainable. Discuss those consequences concretely and without exaggerating.

For example, note interrupted nights, necessary presence and problems combining work with care. An expert can assess whether respite care, extra support or a different division of tasks is needed. The aim is for the injured person to receive appropriate care without remaining entirely dependent on one exhausted family member.

Do not postpone necessary help until the liability dispute has been resolved. Discuss urgent care needs with the appropriate care providers and authorities. In the meantime, your legal representative can look into the financial side and a possible advance payment. Medical necessity and legal payment do not always move at the same pace.

Fictitious example of a care overview

After a road traffic accident, a woman is temporarily unable to use her right arm. Her partner helps her shower and dress every day. He also takes over the cooking and cleaning. Twice a week her sister accompanies her to treatment. Those involved record these activities separately.

After a few weeks she can partly look after herself with the help of an aid. The daily help decreases, but lifting shopping remains difficult. The overview is adjusted. This results in a breakdown into periods that matches the recovery better than one fixed number of hours for the whole case.

This example is fictitious and contains no rate or promise of compensation. The lesson is that personal care, household help and supervision each require their own substantiation. Whether and how much is compensated also depends on liability, necessity, reasonableness and other provisions received.

Checklist for your care claim

Go through these points before you submit your care costs or assess a final offer.

• Situation before and after the accident: an overview of what you did yourself and what you can no longer do independently.
• Per activity: who, how much time, why: washing, dressing, cooking, transport, wound care, supervision. For each task, state why you cannot carry it out yourself.
• Medical or practical substantiation: discharge letter, physiotherapy report, occupational therapy advice or a statement on your capacity.
• Aids already in use: and which tasks you can or cannot manage independently with them.
• Care decisions and budgets: Wmo decision, Wlz assessment, pgb statement or health insurance reimbursements.
• Invoices for professional care: including personal contributions and the compulsory excess.
• What family does, noted separately: together with which amounts were actually paid and which were not.
• Record of hours over a representative period: the task, duration and person helping for each day, with variation between good and bad days.
• Changes in the situation: a new operation, a move, a return to work or an informal carer who drops out.
• Replacement of informal care in the final settlement: check whether the offer only covers current costs or also future care. Precisely when family absorb a great deal, the real need for help can quickly look too small on paper.

Before a final settlement, also discuss future treatment and permanent support. Compensation for now says nothing about the care you will need in ten years’ time.

The legal basis for care costs and informal care

Care provided by relatives has its own statutory basis, alongside the general provisions on damages:

• Article 6:107 of the Dutch Civil Code the core provision: the liable party must also compensate costs incurred by a third party for the benefit of the injured person that the injured person could have claimed themselves. On this basis, care by a partner or family is compensated, even without an invoice. The Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) had already accepted this before this article was introduced, in HR 28 May 1999, ECLI:NL:HR:1999:ZC2912 (NJ 1999/564, known as the Kruidhof judgment): where it is reasonable for relatives to take on the care themselves instead of engaging professional help, that care qualifies for compensation. The assessment is then based on what professional help would have cost, not on the relative’s income. The fact that the relative charged nothing therefore does not stand in the way of compensation.
• Article 6:96 of the Dutch Civil Code financial loss and reasonable costs of experts, such as an occupational therapy or care assessment of the need.
• Article 6:97 of the Dutch Civil Code the court assesses the damage in the manner most appropriate; for care, hourly rates or standard amounts are often used.
• Article 6:105 of the Dutch Civil Code a permanent need for care can be assessed in advance, with a lump sum or periodic payments.
• Care costs recommendation The Dutch Personal Injury Council has issued a recommendation on care costs with a financial section; it offers guidance on assessment but does not replace a specific assessment of your situation. See also De Letselschade Raad.

The articles have been checked on wetten.overheid.nl. Who holds the claim and to whom payment is made deserves an explicit agreement: the victim’s damage and the costs of third parties are not the same thing legally.

Frequently asked questions about informal care and personal injury

Can unpaid help from my partner be compensated?

Under certain conditions, yes. The absence of an invoice does not automatically rule out compensation. The help must be necessary because of the accident, and the chosen assessment must be justifiable both legally and in practice.

Is personal care the same as household help?

No. Washing and dressing are different activities from cleaning or cooking. Keep track of the tasks separately, because necessity, expertise and valuation may differ. One person can provide several types of help.

Do I have to record every minute?

A clear and consistent overview is more important than false precision. Note the activity, a realistic duration, the date and the person helping. Explain any striking differences and make sure simultaneous tasks are not counted twice.

Can I combine family help with home care?

Yes, that may be appropriate. Make clear which tasks are carried out by whom and which party pays for them. The same help may not be claimed twice. A joint care plan can clarify the division.

What if my need for care increases later?

That partly depends on the arrangements made at settlement. Before signing, check whether future developments have been taken into account and whether a reservation or reassessment is needed. A full and final discharge may limit later claims.

Who can help draw up a care budget?

A legal representative can determine which legal and financial information is needed. For complex or long-term care, a suitable care expert can investigate the actual need and draw up a substantiated plan.

How do I prevent my record of hours from becoming implausible?

Record as close to the moment as possible and accept variation: good and bad days differ. Each time, note the date, the specific task, the duration and who did it. Avoid rounded blocks that are identical every week. Add what you did yourself before the accident, so that the extra part becomes visible.

Can the lost income of my informal carer be compensated?

Not automatically, and usually not on a one-to-one basis. Compensation is generally based on the value of the necessary care, not on the carer’s salary. If your partner took unpaid leave or reduced their working hours, do have that put forward with supporting evidence; which approach is appropriate depends on necessity, duration and reasonableness.

Having your need for help assessed

Are you receiving help from family or professional care providers after an accident? Map out the activities and costs at an early stage. This prevents invisible family help from being left out of the calculation of damages and makes it easier to judge whether an offer is sufficient.

Arslan Advocaten assists with personal injury claims and can assess your need for help in conjunction with your other damage. You can submit your situation via the contact page. For a first consultation, have your care overview, relevant decisions and correspondence about liability to hand.

Related articles

• Amputation after an accident
• Spinal cord injury after an accident
• Household help guideline
• Personal injury and household help
• De Letselschade Raad
• An advance payment on your compensation

Sources and further information

• De Letselschade Raad on care costs in 2026
• The Dutch judiciary on personal injury
• De Letselschade Raad on guidelines

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