Non-Pecuniary Damages after a Road-Traffic Accident
General information about non-pecuniary damages after injury or death in a road-traffic accident in Türkiye.
A road accident may cause more than repair and treatment costs. Bodily injury, serious injury or death may also give rise to non-pecuniary damages. Entitlement and amount are assessed under Article 56 of the Code of Obligations and the circumstances of the event.
What are non-pecuniary damages?
Article 56 allows a court to award an appropriate sum for non-pecuniary harm caused by bodily injury. In cases of serious bodily injury or death, claims by close relatives may also be considered under the same provision.
These damages are not a mathematical replacement for lost income. They concern suffering and the event’s personal consequences; payment cannot be assumed to remove those consequences entirely.
Entitlement after a road accident
The liability of the vehicle operator and other responsible persons is not identical to an insurer’s cover. Article 92 of the Highway Traffic Law excludes non-pecuniary damages from compulsory motor liability insurance. Any additional or voluntary cover must be checked separately.
Distress alone does not automatically entitle everyone affected by an accident to an award. The injured person must establish the relevant bodily harm; claims by close relatives require the conditions applicable to serious injury or death. Non-pecuniary harm is assessed separately from financial loss.
Factors relevant to the amount
Judicial discretion must be exercised through a reasoned assessment of the particular case. Relevant factors may include:
Nature and severity: the injury, treatment needed and medical findings.
- Duration and impact: how long the effects last and how they affect the person.
- Age: the injured person’s age and the effect on later life.
- Working capacity and appearance: lasting disability, disfigurement or other enduring effects.
- Responsibility: the nature and degree of the responsible person’s fault.
- Time: the effects of the event, treatment and proceedings on the person.
- Contributory fault: any contribution by the injured person to the occurrence or extent of the harm.
- Purpose of redress: an appropriate, reasoned response to the non-pecuniary harm.
- Circumstances: how the accident occurred.
- Social and economic circumstances: those of the parties and the wider economic context.
The list is not exhaustive. The reasons for considering each factor and its relevance to the case should be explained.
Formula or judicial assessment?
Non-pecuniary damages are not calculated through an actuarial formula for future lost income. Article 56 requires an assessment of the particular event. Medical findings matter, but a disability percentage does not automatically produce a fixed award.
Discussions of methods must distinguish current law from proposals:
Judicial assessment: Article 56 centres on an appropriate amount determined through a reasoned appraisal of the circumstances.
Proposed tariffs: schedules may be discussed as a way to compare similar injuries. A foreign tariff or illustrative calculation does not itself become a binding damages tariff in Türkiye.
Staged models: some proposals begin with a base amount and adjust it for individual circumstances. These are explanatory or academic approaches, not a compulsory formula for every case under current Turkish law.
Insurance and the scope of the claim
The identity of the respondent matters. Compulsory motor cover and any non-pecuniary-damages extension in a voluntary liability policy must be checked separately.
Life tables: PMF-1931 and TRH 2010 arise in support and earning-capacity calculations. They are not direct tables for non-pecuniary damages.
Technical interest: debates about the present value of future financial loss should not be confused with non-pecuniary damages. A change of table cannot justify promising a fixed percentage increase in every case.
Medical or technical expertise may be needed, but legal classification and the award remain for the court. A claim should clearly explain the personal consequences, supporting evidence and legal basis.