Written by Onur Arslan, personal injury lawyer at Arslan Advocaten. Registered in the legal practice areas register of the Netherlands Bar for employment law and personal injury. Last updated: 31 August 2026.
In short: Arslan Advocaten assists accident victims in Amsterdam from Pieter Calandlaan 769, 1069 SC Amsterdam. The first assessment of your case is free of charge. Where another party is liable, the reasonable costs of our assistance are in principle paid by that party or its insurer (Article 6:96(2) Dutch Civil Code). We work in Dutch, Turkish, Polish and English. Call 020 747 0055 or email [email protected].
What does a personal injury lawyer in Amsterdam do for you?
A personal injury lawyer holds the liable party to account, maps out the full extent of your loss and negotiates with the insurer on your behalf — and where another party's liability is established, the reasonable costs of doing so are in principle borne by that other party. That last point is the most overlooked fact in the whole of personal injury practice: many victims forgo expert assistance because they think they cannot afford it, while the law in fact counts those costs among the recoverable loss.
The basis for that is Article 6:96(2) of the Dutch Civil Code (BW), which also treats as financial loss: the reasonable costs of preventing or limiting loss, the reasonable costs of establishing loss and liability, and the reasonable costs of obtaining satisfaction out of court. The word "reasonable" is embedded twice — it must be reasonable that you incur costs, and the amount of those costs must be reasonable. This is the double reasonableness test.
What we do in practice is less legal than people expect. The emphasis lies on mapping out the loss in full, instructing our own medical adviser, helping steer the questions put to an expert, and substantiating the non-material damages with comparable cases that genuinely resemble your situation. In an average road accident, the legal discussion about liability is often settled within a few weeks; after that, it is about what your loss really amounts to, for years.
We assess your situation free of charge before you decide anything. You will then hear where you stand, whether there is a liable party, and what the next step is.
Call 020 747 00 55 or send us your question via the contact form.
Where is the Amsterdam office and how do you get there?
Our Amsterdam office is at Pieter Calandlaan 769, 1069 SC Amsterdam, in Nieuw-West (Osdorp), and can be reached on 020 747 00 55. We are deliberately not in the canal belt but in the district where many of our clients live and work.
| Detail | Amsterdam |
|---|---|
| Address | Pieter Calandlaan 769, 1069 SC Amsterdam |
| District | Nieuw-West (Osdorp) |
| Telephone | 020 747 00 55 |
| Areas of law | personal injury, insurance law, employment law, family law, tenancy law, administrative law, corporate law, criminal law |
| Languages | Dutch, English, Turkish, Polish |
| Personal injury intake | free of charge |
By public transport. Tram line 1 runs along the Pieter Calandlaan towards Osdorp De Aker; from Amsterdam Lelylaan station — a hub for train, metro and tram — you are there within minutes. The Osdorpplein shopping centre is also a short distance away.
By car. From the A10 west ring road and the A4 you enter the district via the Osdorp exit. Unlike the city centre, parking in this part of Nieuw-West is not a feat, which matters if you are unsteady on your feet or come with a companion.
If you cannot travel. Some of our clients can barely leave the house in the first months after an accident. A first conversation can be held by telephone or digitally, and where necessary we come to your home or to the hospital. Do not let distance be a reason to leave a case lying: the limitation period keeps running while you recover.
Which places we serve from Amsterdam. Besides all Amsterdam districts — Nieuw-West, West, Centrum, Zuid, Oost, Noord and Zuidoost — we handle cases from this office for Amstelveen, Diemen, Ouder-Amstel, Uithoorn, Aalsmeer, Badhoevedorp, Hoofddorp, Zaandam and Purmerend. Arslan Advocaten also has offices in The Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Tilburg and Eindhoven.
Which court hears a personal injury case from Amsterdam?
Cases from Amsterdam are heard at first instance by the District Court of Amsterdam at Parnassusweg 280 (1076 AV Amsterdam); appeals go to the Court of Appeal of Amsterdam at IJdok 20. The Amsterdam district is the smallest in the Netherlands by area and has, since 1 January 2022, comprised the municipalities of Amsterdam, Amstelveen, Aalsmeer, Diemen, Ouder-Amstel and Uithoorn.
In practical terms that means: if you live in Amstelveen or Uithoorn and the accident happened there, this is your court. If you live in Zaandam or Purmerend, your case falls under a different district — we handle those cases from Amsterdam all the same, but the proceedings then run elsewhere.
More important than which court is the question of whether you will end up there at all. The vast majority of personal injury cases are settled without a judge, in negotiation with the liable party's insurer. The court comes into the picture in two situations.
| Route | When | What it produces |
|---|---|---|
| Preliminary-issue procedure (deelgeschil) | the process is deadlocked on one defined point: liability, the choice of expert, the level of non-material damages | the court decides that one point, without the whole case being litigated |
| Full proceedings | the dispute is unresolvable in its entirety | a judgment on the complete claim |
The preliminary-issue procedure is favourably arranged for victims. Article 1019aa Rv provides that in its decision the court assesses the costs on the side of the person suffering loss through death or injury, taking into account all reasonable costs within the meaning of Article 6:96(2) BW. Those costs therefore count as a head of loss, not as ordinary legal costs — a threshold that thereby largely falls away.
If criminal proceedings run alongside your case, for example after a hit-and-run or after an assault, there is a second track: joining the proceedings as an injured party. That is free of charge and takes place before the criminal court in Amsterdam. The criminal court will only deal with a claim if it does not place a disproportionate burden on the criminal proceedings; complex personal injury claims are therefore sometimes referred to the civil court.
Hit while cycling in Amsterdam: who is liable?
If you are hit as a cyclist or pedestrian by a car, van, taxi or scooter, you enjoy special protection in traffic: the owner or keeper of the motor vehicle bears strict liability, even where the driver is not at fault. This follows from Article 185 of the Road Traffic Act 1994 (WVW 1994), which imposes that liability for damage to persons or property not carried by that vehicle, "unless it is plausible that the accident was due to force majeure".
Force majeure is a demanding test. The mere fact that a cyclist crossed unexpectedly or went through a red light is as a rule not enough. Alongside that force majeure test, the case law of the Supreme Court has developed rules of thumb that strengthen the position of cyclists and pedestrians further; those 50% and 100% rules do not appear in the statute itself.
In Amsterdam this is the most common type of case, and that is no surprise. The city has a dense cycling network that mixes with car traffic, delivery traffic, taxis and tourists at virtually every junction. The situations we see most often:
- Right-turning traffic that overlooks a cyclist going straight on — with vans and lorries with a blind spot this is the classic, and often most serious, accident.
- Car doors opened into traffic along a canal or a busy through street, where the cyclist rides into the door or swerves and falls.
- Collisions with mopeds and delivery scooters, where whether the vehicle counts as a motor vehicle determines the liability route.
- Accidents involving shared vehicles, where it first has to be established who the owner, keeper and insurer are.
- Falls due to a defective road: a loose paving slab, subsidence, an uncordoned work zone. Article 6:174 BW applies here: the possessor of a defective structure is liable, and for public roads that liability rests on the public authority responsible for the state of the road.
Contributory negligence is where the discussion lands in practice. An insurer admits liability and then deducts a percentage because you had no lights, wore no helmet or were not looking properly. That apportionment is not a given but the result of a weighing exercise — and therefore negotiable. For cyclists and pedestrians the outcomes are structurally more favourable than insurers initially propose.
What you can do immediately: call the police and make sure a report or registration set is drawn up, note the registration number and the details of witnesses, photograph the scene and your bicycle, and keep your damaged clothing and helmet. Go to your GP or the emergency department, even if it seems minor — a record made on day one is worth its weight in gold later.
Injury caused by a tram, bus, metro or taxi in Amsterdam
In an accident in or involving public transport, the liable party is usually the carrier or its insurer, and the route differs depending on whether you were a passenger or were hit from outside. That distinction determines which rules apply and what you have to establish.
| Situation | What the discussion is about |
|---|---|
| You fall as a passenger in a tram or bus due to sudden braking or acceleration | carrier liability; recording of the incident by the driver is crucial |
| You are hit as a cyclist or pedestrian by a tram or bus | a tram is not a motor vehicle within the meaning of Article 185 WVW; the assessment runs along tort law and the special position of rail traffic |
| You are injured by a taxi or ride-share vehicle | ordinary third-party liability of the motor vehicle; Article 185 WVW where cyclists and pedestrians are injured |
| You fall at a station, stop or on an escalator | defective structure or inadequate maintenance; Article 6:174 BW |
What makes these cases difficult is that the evidence does not come to you of its own accord. Trams, buses, metro stations and stops are almost always fitted with cameras, and there is nearly always an internal incident record. Footage is, however, kept only briefly. If you do not request its preservation within a few weeks, it is gone — and with it often the best evidence of how the accident happened. This is the type of case in which acting quickly makes the difference between a file that stands up and one that comes down to one person's word against another's.
So report the incident immediately to the driver or the staff on site, ask for a reference number, and have a written request made as soon as possible to secure the footage.
Workplace accident in the Amsterdam region: what is the employee's position?
In a workplace accident the employer is liable in principle, unless he proves that he complied with his duty of care or that the damage was substantially caused by the employee's own intent or deliberate recklessness. That allocation of the burden of proof is set out in Article 7:658(2) BW and is highly favourable for victims: you do not have to prove that the employer did something wrong; the employer has to prove that he did it properly.
The Amsterdam labour market produces a recognisable pattern of cases. The region has a large construction and renovation programme, an extensive logistics sector around Schiphol and the port area in the west, a dense hospitality and hotel sector, and a great deal of cleaning, distribution and delivery work. The accompanying accidents are accordingly: falls from height and from scaffolding, collisions with forklifts and roll containers, injuries from lifting and repetitive strain, burns and cuts in kitchens, and road accidents during delivery runs.
Agency workers, self-employed contractors and hired-in staff are no less protected. That is a persistent misconception, and it costs people money. Article 7:658(4) BW extends the protection to anyone "who, in the course of his profession or business, has work performed by a person with whom he has no employment contract". That covers agency workers and hired-in self-employed contractors in principle. Whether a self-employed contractor can rely on it in a specific case depends on the circumstances — but the assumption "I'm self-employed, so I'm out of luck" is as a rule wrong.
Report the accident. The duty to report is set out in Article 9(1) of the Working Conditions Act (Arbeidsomstandighedenwet): the employer must report workplace accidents resulting in death, permanent injury or hospital admission immediately to the supervisory authority — in practice the Netherlands Labour Authority. In addition, under paragraph 2 he keeps a list of reported accidents and of accidents leading to more than three working days' absence. If your employer does not report it, report it yourself. The inspection report is often the most important piece of evidence in the file later on, and without a report it does not exist.
A workplace accident moreover brings a second, purely employment-law layer with it: continued payment of wages, reintegration, and sometimes an attempt at dismissal after two years of illness. We handle those tracks together, because a reintegration decision feeds directly into the calculation of your loss of income.
Medical error in an Amsterdam hospital
With a medical error it is not the disappointing outcome that is decisive but the question of whether the care provider acted as a reasonably competent and reasonably acting professional would have acted in the same circumstances — and that breach of standard must as a rule be established through an expert opinion. A complication is not the same as an error. That distinction is the core of virtually every medical case.
Amsterdam has a dense and highly specialised healthcare infrastructure, with academic medicine, several general hospitals and a large number of independent clinics for ophthalmology, orthopaedics, dentistry and cosmetic treatments, among others. It is precisely in that last category that we see cases in which the information given beforehand fell short: anyone not told about a real risk could not give informed consent to it either.
What a medical case requires in practice:
- Requesting your complete medical records from the hospital or clinic. You have a right of access and to a copy.
- Assessment by a medical adviser who can judge whether there is a genuine indication of a breach of standard — before you start proceedings.
- Notice of liability to the care provider; in practice the case then ends up with the hospital's liability insurer.
- Expert examination, where the choice of expert and the questions strongly steer the outcome. Do not sign off on a set of questions without having had influence over it.
- Causation: even where the error is established, it must be shown which part of your current situation can be attributed to it and which part to the underlying condition.
A complaint to the hospital's complaints officer or disputes committee runs alongside this track and is something other than a claim for damages. Both can be worthwhile, but one does not replace the other.
Injury from assault or a violent crime in Amsterdam
With injury caused by a violent offence there is almost always more than one route running in parallel: a civil claim against the offender, joining the criminal proceedings as an injured party, and an application to the Violent Offences Compensation Fund. That last route also works if the offender is unknown or has no money — a situation that occurs more often in practice than people think.
Joining the criminal proceedings is free of charge and can result in a compensation order. If the convicted person does not pay, the state advances the amount: Article 6:4:2(7) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Sv) provides that if the convicted person has still not paid in full eight months after the judgment has become final, the state pays out the remaining amount to the victim and then recovers it itself. Under Article 4:14(2) of the Decree on the enforcement of criminal decisions a maximum of € 5,000 applies, but that maximum falls away for convictions for a range of violent and sexual offences — there the full amount is advanced.
The Violent Offences Compensation Fund pays a contribution to victims of an intentional violent offence causing serious injury. The fund works with six injury categories, with contributions of € 1,000, € 2,500, € 5,000, € 10,000, € 20,000 and € 35,000; relatives and surviving dependants receive a fixed amount of € 5,000. Classification is based on the most serious injury. The application period is set out in Article 7 of the Violent Offences Compensation Fund Act: within ten years of the day on which the offence was committed, or for surviving dependants ten years from the day of death. A late application is still dealt with if it was "submitted as promptly as could reasonably be expected". The contribution is not full compensation and is as a rule set off against what you later receive from the offender.
Alongside physical injury, psychological injury often plays a role here. For psychological injury there is an entitlement to non-material damages in principle, but as a rule a recognised psychiatric condition is required, established by an expert — post-traumatic stress disorder, for example. Grief, anger and shattered trust are understandable, but as a rule do not in themselves give rise to a separate claim. A diagnosis by a psychiatrist or healthcare psychologist, and not only by a GP, is therefore decisive in this type of case.
What does a personal injury lawyer in Amsterdam cost? And is "no cure no pay" right?
Where another party's liability is established, your reasonable costs of legal assistance are in principle borne by that liable party — you then pay nothing, and that is something other than "no cure no pay". People in Amsterdam search a great deal for "no cure no pay", and it is worth knowing the difference, because that difference touches your wallet directly.
Under a no-cure-no-pay arrangement you hand over a percentage of your compensation to your representative. Under reimbursement based on Article 6:96(2) BW, the liable party pays the costs on top of your compensation, so that your award remains untouched. For you the second route is as a rule more favourable. Lawyers are moreover bound by the disciplinary rules that apply to the Bar; those do not apply to every party presenting itself as a personal injury agency.
| How it is funded | How it works | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Costs borne by the liable party | where liability is admitted, your reasonable costs are reimbursed as a head of loss | before admission there is no paying party yet; make arrangements about that phase |
| Legal expenses insurance | your policy covers the case | you have a statutory right to free choice of lawyer — see below |
| State-funded legal aid | a toevoeging through the Legal Aid Board, with a personal contribution | income and asset limits apply; often not needed in personal injury cases |
| Joining the criminal proceedings | free of charge | only where a criminal offence is involved, and limited to straightforward claims |
| Violent Offences Compensation Fund | an application can be made without a lawyer | a contribution, not full compensation |
| Hourly rate | paid privately | ask in advance for an estimate and for interim arrangements |
Free choice of lawyer with legal expenses insurance. Under Article 4:67 of the Financial Supervision Act (Wft) your policy must expressly provide that you may choose your own lawyer to represent your interests in judicial or administrative proceedings, or where there is a conflict of interest. The Court of Justice of the EU interprets this broadly: the insurer may not make that right of choice dependent on its own assessment that external assistance is necessary (CJEU 7 November 2013, C-442/12, Sneller/DAS); administrative proceedings are covered too (CJEU 7 April 2016, C-460/14, Massar), and the right of choice applies equally in judicial and extrajudicial mediation (CJEU 14 May 2020, C-667/18). If your insurer tells you that you "may not choose your own lawyer", have that checked.
My own insurer has rejected my claim — what now?
A dispute with your own insurer is legally something other than a personal injury claim against a third party: here it is about the interpretation of your policy and about whether the insurer is right to rely on an exclusion, a duty of disclosure or a contributory negligence clause. This arises with accident insurance, disability insurance, passenger insurance and travel insurance.
The rejections we come across most often:
- Reliance on the duty of disclosure when taking out the insurance — the argument that you should have reported something about your health or history.
- Exclusion because of a pre-existing condition, where the insurer attributes your symptoms to something predating the policy.
- Dispute about the degree of incapacity for work under a disability policy, which turns on which occupation and which tasks are the yardstick.
- Forfeiture of rights for late notification, while the insurer does not show that its interests were actually harmed.
- A personal investigation prompted by a suspicion of fraud. Such investigation is subject to strict limits; the mere fact that an insurer has doubts does not justify every means.
These cases are regularly given up too soon. A rejection letter is the other side's position, not a final verdict. Often the policy condition on which the rejection rests is open to more than one interpretation, and then what counts is what you as a consumer could reasonably have understood.
How do you recognise a good personal injury lawyer?
Pay attention not to the promise but to the working method: how is your loss mapped out, who is the medical adviser, and do you get to see every offer itemised per head of loss? Search terms like "best personal injury lawyer" mostly bring you marketing. The questions that do tell you something are more concrete.
| A question you ask | Why that question works |
|---|---|
| What will this cost me, and in which phase? | a good explanation distinguishes the phase before admission of liability from the phase after it |
| Who assesses my medical situation? | a medical adviser on your side should be standard, not an extra |
| How do you substantiate the non-material damages? | the answer "we look in the Smartengeldgids" is too thin; it is about comparable cases that fit your situation |
| When will we settle? | as a rule only at the medical end situation — anyone pressing earlier is serving another interest |
| What happens with my medical records? | you should not give unlimited authorisation; the scope is negotiable |
| Is there a single point of contact? | a file running for years does not tolerate changing handlers without a proper handover |
The most important distinction is between a lawyer and a claims settlement agency. Only a lawyer can bring your case before the court without involving third parties, is subject to disciplinary rules and has a duty of confidentiality with legal professional privilege. In a case that may end in a preliminary-issue procedure or full proceedings, that is not a formality.
Besides Dutch we also speak English, Turkish and Polish. In a city where a considerable share of residents has a different first language, that is not a side issue: a personal injury case turns on nuance in describing symptoms and limitations, and that nuance is lost when the conversation has to take place in a second language.
Injured as a visitor or expat in Amsterdam
Even if you do not live in the Netherlands, you can recover loss from a party liable here — Dutch law in principle determines what you are entitled to for an accident that happened here. Amsterdam attracts millions of visitors a year, and some of them are injured here: as a pedestrian on a cycle path, on a hired bicycle or scooter, in a hotel or hospitality venue, or during a stay for work.
What differs from an ordinary case:
- The liable party and the insurer are in the Netherlands, while you are at a distance after returning home. Correspondence, medical examination and expert assessments have to be arranged accordingly.
- Your medical treatment starts here and continues elsewhere. The file then falls into two parts; make sure the Dutch emergency department records are secured before you leave.
- Loss calculated according to your own situation. Loss of income is calculated on your actual income and circumstances, not on Dutch averages.
- The limitation period simply keeps running, even while you are abroad.
If you work here as an expat or migrant worker and have a workplace accident, the protection of Article 7:658 BW applies in full, including in agency work or hiring-in arrangements. That is precisely the group that most often assumes it has no position.
We conduct cases in English, Turkish and Polish.
How long do I have to claim my loss?
For loss caused by injury or death a single period applies: five years, counted from the day after the day on which you became aware both of the loss and of the person liable for it. The absolute twenty-year limit that applies to other claims for damages expressly does not apply to injury and fatal-accident claims. This follows from Article 3:310(5) BW, which departs from the main rule of paragraph 1 on this point.
The period therefore does not automatically start on the day of the accident. Where injury only becomes apparent later, or where the liable party only becomes known later, it may start later.
| Situation | Where the period in principle starts |
|---|---|
| Road accident with a known other party | at the accident |
| Injury that only comes to light later | on becoming aware of the loss and the liable party |
| Minor victim | Article 3:310(5) BW: if the victim was a minor on the day the loss and the liable party became known, the five-year period only starts on the day after reaching the age of majority |
| Injury caused by a criminal offence | Article 3:310(4) BW: where the event is a criminal offence to which Dutch criminal law applies, the claim against the offender does not become time-barred as long as the right to prosecute has not lapsed through limitation or the offender's death |
| Direct claim against the motor insurer | Article 6 of the Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) gives the injured party a direct right against the insurer; Article 10(1) WAM makes that claim time-barred after three years from the event causing the loss — so much shorter, and without any awareness requirement |
Interrupting the limitation period is simple and sensible. A written communication in which you unequivocally reserve your right to performance in principle starts a fresh period. If you are unsure whether your claim is still in time, have that assessed before you do anything else — a time-barred claim cannot be rescued, however strong the case is on the merits.
What loss can you claim?
Your loss consists of two parts: material loss, which you establish with supporting documents, and non-material damages for suffering that carries no price tag. With serious injury the material loss is usually by far the largest — a fact insurers rarely emphasise of their own accord.
| Head of loss | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Loss of earning capacity | income missed now and in the future, including missed promotions and pension accrual |
| Medical costs | policy excess, treatments, medication, aids |
| Domestic help | what you can no longer do yourself |
| Care and nursing | including where relatives take this on |
| Adaptations | home, car, workplace |
| Travel costs | to practitioners, expert examinations and the hospital |
| Study delay | for pupils and students |
| Loss of DIY capacity | odd jobs, garden and maintenance you can no longer do yourself |
| Out-of-court costs | the costs of your lawyer and medical adviser |
Non-material damages are assessed on an equitable basis under Article 6:106 BW: for loss that does not consist of financial loss, the injured party is entitled to compensation to be assessed on an equitable basis, including where he has suffered physical injury, has been harmed in his honour or reputation or has otherwise been affected in his person. There is no tariff per type of injury. What determines the weight is the nature and severity of the injury, the duration of recovery, permanent limitations, your age and the consequences for work, family, hobbies and social life.
We deliberately quote no amounts per type of injury on this page. Figures circulating online are often out of date, taken out of context or drawn from another country, and are almost always either too high — leading to disappointment — or too low, causing people to accept a poor offer. A realistic estimate can only be given once the injury has medically crystallised.
If a loved one has died or been seriously and permanently injured, there is in addition an entitlement to bereavement damages: fixed amounts for a statutorily defined circle of relatives, laid down in Article 6:107(2) and Article 6:108(4) BW and the Bereavement Damages Decree. That scheme only applies to events from 1 January 2019 onwards.
Step by step: claiming personal injury compensation after an accident in Amsterdam
In principle you report the accident, hold the liable party liable in writing, your injury is assessed medically, and a negotiation process with the insurer follows that in most cases ends in a settlement. Only a small proportion of cases ultimately reach a judge.
Immediately after the accident:
- Get yourself examined medically, even if the symptoms seem mild — a record made on day one is worth its weight in gold later.
- Make sure there is a formal record: a police report or registration set, an accident statement form, an accident notification to your employer, an incident report to the carrier.
- Note down the names and contact details of witnesses.
- Photograph the scene, your injuries and the objects involved.
- Keep damaged clothing, the bicycle or the helmet — that is evidence.
- In an accident in or involving public transport, ask in writing for camera footage to be preserved.
In the weeks that follow:
- Report all your symptoms fully to your GP and keep track of the treatments.
- Start a diary: symptoms, limitations, what you no longer do, who helps you.
- Keep a loss file with every receipt, invoice and travel cost.
- Note what help you receive from family and how many hours it takes.
- Hold the liable party liable in writing and thereby interrupt the limitation period.
Before settlement:
- Sign nothing while your medical situation is still changing.
- Have every offer itemised per head of loss — what is not broken down cannot be assessed.
- Have the consequences for benefits and allowances assessed in advance.
- Consider a reservation for specifically named future deterioration.
- Have the settlement agreement read through before you sign; with a full and final discharge the case is in principle definitively closed.
Why is the insurer's first offer rarely the final offer?
An insurer serves the interests of its insured and of its own claims burden, and in practice a first offer is an opening bid — not a calculation of what you are entitled to. That is not a reproach: it is the role an insurer has in this system. It only becomes a problem when a victim believes the claims handler is on their side.
| What happens | What lies behind it |
|---|---|
| A quick offer shortly after the accident | your injury has not yet crystallised; buying it off early is cheaper for the insurer |
| An offer "covering everything" | the non-material damages are merged with material loss, so you can no longer see what is for what |
| Reference to one low comparable case | cases with higher awards go unmentioned, and no index-linking is applied |
| Emphasis on contributory negligence | part of the loss is deducted; that apportionment is negotiable |
| Personal investigation or a medical request | building pressure and looking for an alternative explanation for your symptoms |
| Request for full and final discharge | closing the case definitively before the course of your recovery is known |
What you can do about this is less complicated than it looks: sign nothing while your medical situation is still changing, have every offer itemised per head of loss, and deal with the non-material damages separately using your own comparable cases.
When do you really need a lawyer?
Not every case calls for a lawyer, but there are situations in which the difference between having expert assistance and not having it runs into tens of thousands of euros. These are the signals.
| Signal | Why it counts |
|---|---|
| Liability is disputed or rejected | without admission you never get to the question of loss |
| Contributory negligence is raised against you | the apportionment is negotiable and legally complex |
| Your symptoms are not objectively demonstrable | whiplash, brain injury and psychological injury require a specific build-up |
| There is permanent injury or permanent loss of work | the loss runs over decades and must be substantiated arithmetically |
| A medical expert examination is proposed | the questions and the choice of expert steer the outcome |
| You are put under time pressure | haste as a rule serves the insurer's interest |
| A child is involved | the consequences only become visible years later |
| Someone has died | bereavement damages, shock damages and fatal-accident loss run together |
| You are being followed or investigated | personal investigation is subject to strict limits |
| The offer is not itemised | what is not broken down cannot be assessed |
What it costs you: where liability is admitted, in principle nothing, because the reasonable costs of legal assistance fall on the liable party as a head of loss (Article 6:96(2) BW).
Have your situation assessed free of charge
Arslan Advocaten handles personal injury cases from its office at Pieter Calandlaan 769, 1069 SC Amsterdam (Nieuw-West), and in addition from offices in The Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Tilburg and Eindhoven. We work with our own medical adviser and forensic accountants and act for victims of road accidents, workplace accidents, medical errors and violent crime. Besides Dutch we speak English, Turkish and Polish.
Call 020 747 00 55 or send us your question via the contact form. We will tell you where you stand and what the next step is.
This page provides general information and is not legal advice on your own case. No rights can be derived from the principles set out here.
Sources and accountability
The statutory rules referred to on this page can be consulted at the official source:
- Article 3:310 BW — limitation: Dutch Civil Code, Book 3
- Article 6:96 BW — out-of-court costs: Dutch Civil Code, Book 6
- Article 6:106 BW — non-material damages: Dutch Civil Code, Book 6
- Articles 6:107 and 6:108 BW — bereavement damages and fatal-accident loss: Dutch Civil Code, Book 6
- Article 6:174 BW — liability for structures: Dutch Civil Code, Book 6
- Article 7:658 BW — the employer's duty of care: Dutch Civil Code, Book 7
- Article 185 WVW — protection of non-motorised road users: Road Traffic Act 1994
Judgments can be found via Rechtspraak.nl. Statutory texts checked on 9 September 2026; the limitation periods, costs and competent court in your own case are assessed by the lawyer handling it.