Notice of injury

You can claim compensation by filing a notice of injury in writing with the Patient Insurance Centre.

Read the instructions for filing a notice of injury carefully before filling out the form and submitting it to the Patient Insurance Centre. If you need help in filing the notice, contact the Patient Ombudsman or a social worker of your place of treatment.  More detailed instructions for filing a notice of injury, such as instructions on how to submit an electronic notice of injury and prepare a power of attorney, can be found on our website, which also includes a checklist for the claimant.

Instructions for filing a notice of injury

Limitation period for submitting a notice of injury

The notice of injury must be filed with the Patient Insurance Centre within three years of the date when the injured party first knew, or should have known, of the injury. Therefore, the limitation period does not start at the time of treatment, but from the time the injured party understood or should have understood that the injury resulted from the health care and medical treatment received.

The notice of injury may be filed later under special circumstances. However, the claim must be made no later than ten years after the treatment if the treatment was administered on 1 May 1999 or after. The absolute limitation period for treatment given before 1 May 1999 is 20 years. Notices of injury filed after the expiry of the absolute limitation period will not be examined, even if the claimant became aware of the patient injury only after the period ended.

Checklist for the claimant

• Form: Fill out the sections of your notice of injury carefully and accurately. This will speed up the handling of your claim at the Patient Insurance Centre. If you print out the form, be sure to write your answers with clear handwriting. 
• Place of treatment: State the name of the place of treatment or practice where the injury occurred as accurately as possible. Include all the other locations where you were examined or treated for the same complaint either before or after the injury occurred.
• Time and date: Please report as accurately as possible the date or the period when the examination, treatment or omission that resulted in the injury took place.
• Grounds: Describe your bodily injury in your own words and on what grounds you are claiming compensation. As a claimant, you are not required to present any medical or judicial grounds for your claim. It is important that you state your main arguments as clearly as possible. The Patient Insurance Centre will request a statement on the treatment or examination carried out from the place of treatment where you report the injury having taken place.
• My Kanta Pages: The Patient Insurance Centre is not able to retrieve your data from the My Kanta Pages service. Write all the details of the incident in your notice of injury.
• Signature: Be sure to sign the hardcopy notice of injury form before sending it to the Patient Insurance Centre. The electronic notice of injury form need not be signed separately. Logging in with your online banking credentials will suffice. Remember to submit the electronic notice of injury before closing the web page.
• Authorization: As an adult, you may authorise someone else to attend to your case on your behalf. 
• Minors and legally incapacitated adults: If the patient is underaged or an legally incapacitated adult, the notice of injury form must be signed by their legal guardian. The parents of an underage patient usually serve as their legal guardians.
• Death: If the patient is deceased, the notice of injury can be filed and signed by a party to the estate of the deceased or another next-of-kind who incurred financial loss or damage as a result of the death.
• After the claims decision: If you receive a favourable claims decision, remember to file your claim for compensation for the costs incurred with the Patient Insurance Centre. The claim must be filed no later than within three years of the receipt of the decision.
• Change of address: The Patient Insurance Centre sends all mail related to your case to the postal address you have provided. Remember to report any changes to your address to the Patient Insurance Centre.