Road Accident Fund Claims

You may be entitled to claim from the Road Accident Fund if:

•  A driver, passenger, pedestrian or cyclist injured in an accident 
• The dependent of someone who died in a road accident
• The person responsible for funeral expenses after a fatal accident

You may be entitled to claim from the Road Accident Fund if:

• You were injured in a road accident in South Africa. This includes passengers, pedestrians, drivers, passengers and cyclists, provided you were not solely responsible for the accident.
• You are a dependent or close family member of someone who dies as a result of a road accident. In such cases, claims may be made for funeral expenses and loss of financial support.
• The injured person is a minor. Children under the age of 18 must be represented by a parent or legal guardian when a claim is lodged.

• Prescription periods vary in terms of a Road Accident Fund claim depending on whether or not it is an ‘identified’ or ‘unidentified’ claim. Section 17(1) of the Road Accident Fund Act, 56 of 1996 deals with the prescription of identified and unidentified claims.

Identified Claim

• An identified claim is one where the driver or the owner of the vehicle involved in the accident can be identified. In other words, it is known who was responsible for the vehicle that caused the accident. In these cases, the claim must be lodged within three years from the date of the accident, failing which the claim will prescribe.

Unidentified Claim

• In simple terms, a hit-and-run accident gives rise to an unidentified claim. This is where neither the driver nor the owner of the vehicle that caused the accident can be identified. In cases of unidentified claims or hit-n-run’s the prescription period applicable is two years from the date of accident.

It is for this reason that it is of cardinal importance for the victim of a motor vehicle accident to gather as much information as possible regarding the vehicles and the drivers of such vehicles that are involved in motor vehicle accidents, save for instances where the wrongdoing vehicle does not stop or flees the scene of an accident which makes identifying such person impossible.

• Section 17(1)(b) of the Road Accident Fund Act applies in these cases. Because the responsible vehicle or driver is unknown, the law imposes stricter time limits, and it is especially important to act quickly to protect your claim.
• In both identified and unidentified claims, summons must be issued within five years from the date of the accident if the claim has not been finalised. This five-year period includes the time limits for lodging the claim itself — three years for identified claims and two years for hit-and-run (unidentified) claims. Failing to issue summons within this overall period will result in the claim prescribing, even if a claim form was submitted earlier.

You may be eligible for compensation for:

• Past Medical Expenses: This covers the hospital and medical expenses you incur as a result of the accident, from the date of the incident until your claim is finalised by the Road Accident Fund. It is important that you keep records of all accident-related medical accounts, as your attorney will include these costs in the claim submitted to the Road Accident Fund on your behalf.

• Future Medical Expenses: Future medical expenses cover the treatment you may still need after the accident. To properly assess this, your attorney will arrange for you to be examined by relevant medical specialists. These specialists prepare medico-legal reports that assess your injuries and outline the treatment you are likely to require in the future, ranging from ongoing care such as physiotherapy to more extensive treatment, including surgery, where necessary.

• Loss of Income / earning capacity:. A loss of earnings claim relates to the income you have lost, or are likely to lose, because your injuries affect your ability to work. In many cases, this is the single biggest factor in determining the value of a claim. Whether the loss is significant depends entirely on the nature of your injuries and the type of work you did before the accident. The same injury can have very different consequences for different people. For example, the loss of a finger may have little impact on one profession, but could be career-ending for a musician, or significantly reduce the effectiveness of someone whose work depends on typing or manual precision.

To properly assess this, your attorney will look closely at your job, your skills, your earning history, and how the injury affects your ability to work now and in the future. This is done with the assistance of various experts, including occupational therapists, industrial psychologists, and medical specialists, who prepare reports on how your injuries impact your capacity to work and earning potential. These reports allow your attorney to present a clear and detailed picture of your personal circumstances to the Road Accident Fund and, if necessary, to a court, so that fair compensation can be claimed for the income you have lost or may lose going forward.

• Loss of Support: Compensation for the financial support that dependants, such as a spouse, children or others who were financially reliant on the deceased, lose when a breadwinner dies in a motor vehicle accident. This is designed to replace the financial contribution that the deceased would have provided to their family had the accident not occurred. This includes housing, food, education and other living expenses. Claimants must prove dependency such as a marriage certificate, birth certificate of children and proof of financial reliance.

• General Damages: This category of compensation is intended to address the pain, suffering, and inconvenience caused by the accident, including both the physical injuries sustained and the psychological or emotional trauma that may follow.  To qualify for a claim for general damages, you must be assessed by a medical practitioner who confirms that your injuries meet the legal threshold set by the Road Accident Fund. This may include a finding that:

• You have a whole-person impairment of 30% or more;
• You have suffered a serious and long-term loss or impairment of a body function;
• You have sustained serious disfigurement;
• You suffer from a long-term mental or severe behavioural disturbance as a result of the accident; or
• You have suffered the loss of a foetus.

• General damages are not calculated according to a fixed formula. Instead, they are based on previous court decisions, where judges have awarded compensation for similar injuries. In practical terms, this means that your award is usually aligned with what other people have received in the past for comparable injuries.

• The final amount depends on several factors, including the type and severity of the injury, the treatment required, how long recovery takes, and the impact the injury has had on your daily life. Even the same injury can attract different awards depending on these circumstances, and previous injuries or medical conditions may also influence the outcome.

• Funeral expenses: Funeral expenses covering the reasonable costs associated with the burial of a loved one who has died from fatal injuries sustained from a motor vehicle accident. This is compensation for a person who was legally responsible for paying the funeral expenses of the deceased.

• Police report or case number,
• Your personal documents (including ID copy and proof of residence)
• Medical records or doctor’s notes,
• Any videos, photographs of the accident scene
• Save all receipts as proof of expenses you incurred as a result of your injury

Yes. You may still claim from the Road Accident Fund even if you were partly responsible for the accident. In these cases, the compensation you receive may be reduced in proportion to your degree of fault, but this does not automatically disqualify you from claiming. LHL can assist in assessing the merits of your claim, including the extent to which fault may affect your entitlement, and advise you on the strength of your case.

It is possible to submit a claim to the Road Accident Fund on your own. However, the process is complex, highly technical, and often results in claims being undervalued or settled for far less than they are worth. Once you accept a settlement from the RAF, you are legally barred from ever claiming again for the same accident –  even if your injuries worsen or future losses become clearer. For this reason, we generally do not recommend pursuing a claim without legal assistance. We are legal experts in this field and we are available to assist with your claim.

The duration of an RAF claim depends on several factors, including the seriousness of your injuries, how long your medical treatment and recovery take, the availability of supporting documents, and the RAF’s own internal processing times. More complex claims – especially those requiring specialist reports – may take longer to finalize as these may require more detailed expert reports.

When we act for you, we take firm, proactive steps to ensure that your matter progresses without unnecessary delay. We work to strict internal timelines, require our experts to adhere to clear reporting deadlines, and actively follow up with the Road Accident Fund whenever responses or decisions are outstanding. We promptly gather all required documentation and coordinate closely with our established network of medical and financial experts to prevent avoidable stagnation. Our role is to manage the process carefully and decisively, protect your interests at every stage, and ensure that your claim moves forward as smoothly and efficiently as the law and circumstances allow.

The Road Accident Fund provides compensation to anyone injured in a road accident on a public road, regardless of whether the at-fault driver had insurance. Under the current Road Accident Fund Act, claims for personal injury may not be brought directly against the wrongdoer, as compensation for such injuries must be claimed from the RAF.