What can be claimed
What non-pecuniary damage is
The Civil Obligations Act defines non-pecuniary damage as an infringement of personality rights. Those rights include, among others, the right to life, physical and mental health, reputation, honour, dignity, name, the privacy of personal and family life, and liberty. The court will award fair monetary compensation where it finds that the gravity of the infringement and the circumstances justify it, independently of any compensation for pecuniary damage - and even where there is none.
The forms awarded in practice
- physical pain - assessed together with the discomforts of treatment: hospitalisation, immobilisation, operations, dressings, physiotherapy, and the length of rehabilitation;
- fear - compensation is awarded where the circumstances, in particular the duration and intensity of the fear, justify it;
- mental anguish from a reduction in general life activity - every limitation on activities the injured person pursued or would certainly have pursued, including performing them with increased effort;
- mental anguish from disfigurement - according to its degree and visibility, on both objective and subjective considerations;
- mental anguish from the death or particularly severe disability of a close person;
- infringement of reputation, honour, dignity and privacy - as an independent basis, regardless of any physical injury.
Who is entitled in case of death or particularly severe disability
In the event of death, the right to fair monetary compensation belongs to members of the immediate family - the spouse, children and parents. Compensation may also be awarded to siblings, grandparents, grandchildren and an unmarried partner where a lasting community of life existed between them and the deceased. In the event of particularly severe disability, the right belongs to the spouse, children and parents. A life partner is equated with a spouse under separate legislation.
The guideline criteria of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia
The Guideline Criteria and Amounts for Determining Fair Monetary Compensation for Non-Material Damage were adopted by the Civil Division of the Supreme Court on 29 November 2002. At its session of 15 June 2020 all amounts were increased by 50 %.
The criteria themselves state expressly that they do not represent a mathematical formula serving by mere automatism to calculate fair monetary compensation, and that the duration and intensity of pain and fear are especially important but not the only circumstances the court must bear in mind.
The guideline amounts after the 2020 increase
| Basis | EUR |
|---|---|
| Physical pain - severe (per day) | 73.66 |
| Physical pain - moderate (per day) | 43.80 |
| Physical pain - mild (per day) | 13.94 |
| Fear | 437.99 - 5,972.53 |
| Reduction in life activity up to 25 % (per 10 %) | 1,493.13 |
| Reduction in life activity > 25 - 40 % | 2,189.93 |
| Reduction in life activity > 40 - 60 % | 4,379.85 |
| Reduction in life activity > 60 - 80 % | 8,958.79 |
| Reduction in life activity > 80 - 100 % | 14,931.32 |
Disfigurement, and death or particularly severe disability of a close person:
| Basis | EUR |
|---|---|
| Disfigurement - severe, highly visible to others | 7,366.12 |
| Disfigurement - severe, visible only occasionally | 4,379.85 |
| Disfigurement - moderate, highly visible to others | 4,379.85 |
| Disfigurement - moderate, visible occasionally | 2,189.93 |
| Disfigurement - mild, highly visible to others | 995.42 |
| Disfigurement - mild, visible occasionally | 497.71 |
| Death of a spouse or unmarried partner and of a child | 43,798.53 |
| Loss of an unborn child | 14,931.32 |
| Death of a parent - child in their care | 43,798.53 |
| Death of a parent - child | 29,862.63 |
| Death of a sibling | 14,931.32 |
| Particularly severe disability of a spouse and of a child | 43,798.53 |
Why a court may depart from the criteria
The law requires the court, in fixing the amount, to have regard to the intensity and duration of the physical pain, mental anguish and fear caused by the infringement, and to the purpose the compensation serves. The criteria themselves provide for adjustment upwards or downwards under almost every head: for a reduction in life activity according to the extent and gravity of the permanent consequences and the age and occupation of the injured person; for disfigurement according to age, occupation and the location of the injury; and for fear according to its duration and intensity. Departure is therefore not an exception but part of applying the criteria - though it must rest on established facts and be reasoned in the judgment.
Inflation as an argument for a higher award
The Supreme Court raised the amounts in 2020 precisely because time had eroded them, relying on the national statistics on inflation and wage growth. The same logic applies today: between June 2020, when the increase was adopted, and June 2026, consumer prices rose by approximately 39.5 %.
Inflation is neither an independent basis for an increase nor applied automatically, but it is a circumstance that can be raised in proceedings - and one the Supreme Court itself accepted as relevant when it revised the criteria.
Practical notes
- Document the course of treatment - the duration and intensity of pain, hospitalisations, immobilisation and rehabilitation are established by expert opinion, but the starting point is the medical file.
- Do not overlook the less obvious heads - fear, disfigurement and infringement of privacy are often left unclaimed, yet they are awarded alongside the other forms of damage.
- Put forward your personal circumstances - age, occupation, sporting and other activities before the injury, and the location of the injury directly affect the adjustment of the amount.
- Frame the claim on the circumstances, not on the table - the criteria are a starting point, not a ceiling.
- Mind the limitation period - the claim becomes time-barred three years after you learn of the damage and the person responsible, and in any event five years after the damage occurred.
The amount of compensation for non-pecuniary damage is rarely a matter of a single table - it depends on how well the circumstances of the case are established and reasoned. Our office is available to assess the merits and the realistic value of a claim, to handle the claim against the insurer, and to represent you in proceedings for damages.