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How can I get financial compenstion for a train accident?
In the afternoon around 16, I was going to take a NS train from Diemen zuid to Amsterdam Zuid. I was about to be late for the train, with all the doors for customers closed. However, a station officer still welcomed me, and he tried letting me get on the train from the small front door for station officers. When I was hopoing on the train from the front door, the train started moving. Consequently, I fell from the train to the ground between the platform and train. I managed to crawl to the space underneath the platform to protect myself, and the train stopped afterwards for a few hours. I was rescued by firefigheters and sent to the hospital by ambulance; luckly, neither any bone was broken nor there was no chronic injuries. Yet, my muscle was damaged, such that I could not walk wihtout crutches for 2 weeks. Plus, I am suffering from a severe mental trauma from the accident, being unable to take trains on a regular basis.
Although I did not have significant long term physical damages, I belileve it is reasonable to get some compensation for the suffering I experienced and mental damage I am carrying. Furthremore, I am not coinvinced that this case should just be left legally unsolved.
A police officer has been checking upon me for the past few weeks, and she told me about the option of bringing a case. Since the case is likely to belong to civil law suit, she suggested Rechtswinkel (you) to recieve legal consultancy.
My question is how likely it is to get compensation for the case. Also, I would like to ask what kind of procedure I should take to challenge. Thank you for your help in advance.
This sounds like an awful experience.
There are different kind of damages. I would imagine you might have made medical costs and had "direct" damage and/or needed to make specific transactions. Furthermore there might be damage based on the time you where not able to walk properly and so on. Next to that in some situations it's possible to request immaterial damages (in case of for example the mental trauma you mentioned).
All of this will depend on the specific circumstances, so before it's possible to give an estimation I would need to know a bit more.
Some examples/questions that would need to be taken into account/checked:
- was the station officer allowed to use that door for passengers?
- the train-driver probably might not get a notice if all passenger doors are closed, but the "small door" is open.
- if that's the case the officer/NS could be held responsible.
You can contact me through my profile without obligation to discuss your questions/case.