This is what you’ll get with the
Road Injury Unit of HM Hospitales, one of the largest private healthcare groups in Spain with over 4,000 professionals dedicated to looking after your health. Your hospital if you are involved in a road accident.
People injured in road accidents
1. If you are involved in a road accident, go to the Road Injury department of any hospital in the HM Hospitales Group. If you’ve already received first aid at another health center, be it public or private, you can continue your treatment at any HM Hospital.
2. We can treat you at the HM Hospital closest to your home.
3. There are no costs involved for you.
4. Minimum paperwork (we’ll handle your entire case with the insurance company).
Who can become a victim of a road accident?
All of us could be injured in a road accident, whether we’re the driver of a vehicle, a passenger, a cyclist or a pedestrian.
Who pays the healthcare costs?
In practically all cases, healthcare costs incurred as a result of a road accident must be paid by the insurance companies, since both the occupants of the vehicle and any other people affected by an accident are protected by third-party cover. If the driver was driving off-road, the insurance company will pay the healthcare costs in accordance with the specific terms of each policy.
By law, victims must be compensated for “the costs of medical, pharmaceutical and hospital care in the amount required to heal or stabilize the injuries, provided that the costs are duly justified based on the nature of the care provided”.
Through our Road Injury Unit, which can be found at all our hospitals, HM Hospitales provides full healthcare and all the necessary treatments until medical discharge, at no cost for the patient, at all times in accordance with the terms of each policy.
What should I do in the event of an accident?
You should report the time and place of the accident and provide the identification details of the vehicles involved and their drivers. You should also give the name of your insurance company, and in the case of off-road driving provide a copy of the insurance policy. HM Hospitales will get in touch with the insurer and handle all the paperwork directly.
What to do in the event of a road accident
You decide where you want to be seen.
Individuals injured in road accidents are entitled to choose which health center to be seen at. This decision is key to minimizing the consequences of the accident. You are in no way obliged to switch health center or doctor, even if your insurance company suggests you do so, because the law allows injured parties to attend the health center of their choice both for treatment and for rehabilitation, without the insurance company being able to interfere in their decision:
You can and should always choose where you want to be seen.
Choose a hospital with all the guarantees
Always request to be seen at a hospital that is accredited by the relevant administration. Accreditation is not just an administrative formality, it's a guarantee of quality and an extra level of safety for patients, since it means the center has passed rigorous inspections certifying that it's equipped to deal with all their needs.
What can I claim in the event of a road accident? Who is entitled to make a claim?
As explained by the Unit for Victims of Road Accidents of the DGT, Spain’s road transport authority, the following parties can make a claim: the driver who isn’t at fault, the occupants of any vehicle, a pedestrian who is hit (unless the “victim is exclusively at fault” for being hit), and, in the event of death, certain family members depending on the age of the victim, the degree of kinship, the existence or absence of certain relatives, and so on.
In addition, the DGT states that victims who have suffered personal injuries “shall in all cases be entitled to compensation”, unless they are “exclusively at fault” for the accident, and it is the party who caused the harm who must “prove the victim was exclusively at fault (which is very difficult)”, according to the DGT. In the event of “contributory negligence”, the degree to which each party was at fault must be established in order to calculate the amount of compensation due. And if the other vehicle isn’t insured, or drove off and can't be located, the payment of compensation will fall to the Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros.
What should I claim?
In its guide entitled “What to do in the event of a road accident”, the DGT sets out what qualifies for compensation and the quantities receivable, and makes some basic recommendations to follow both at the time of the accident and during the subsequent steps, in respect of the material aspects (repairing the vehicles), the legal aspects (choosing a lawyer), and the healthcare aspects.
In the event of a road accident, you can claim Social Security benefits for incapacity for work, interest on overdue payments, damage to property and of course personal injury such as death, permanent injuries, incapacity for work (sick leave) and healthcare expenses. This is to compensate for the physical and emotional damages suffered by those involved in an accident, with fixed quantities in accordance with rules and scales established by law.
Who should I make the claim against?
If the vehicle that caused the damages is insured, against its insurance company and against the driver of that vehicle. If it is not insured, against the Consorcio de Compensación, against the driver and against the owner of the vehicle.
Time limit for making a claim
It is important to bear in mind that you must contact the insurance company within seven days, although exceeding this period “does not necessarily result in the total loss of your rights”. The period for filing a criminal complaint is six months from the date of the accident, and for filing a civil action one year from when it becomes possible to bring the action, or from the moment your injuries have healed and the final extent of them is known.
How can I make a claim?
All compensation can be claimed out of court, by negotiating the amount with the insurance company, or in court, by filing a criminal complaint or a civil action and claiming the amount considered appropriate.
For criminal proceedings, you must have injuries that take longer than one day to heal, and filing a criminal complaint is recommended in order to obtain a medical expert’s report, which is “independent and of great value for negotiating with the insurance company or for a subsequent civil action”. Civil proceedings are the only available option “when there has been damage to property only” and, typically, “when the six-month period for filing a criminal complaint has expired”. The disadvantage of the civil route is that you’ll need to hire the services of a specialist expert in order to value bodily injury.
Facilitating your next steps and decisions
HM Hospitales has focused its efforts on making post-accident steps as easy as possible and on providing maximum information to road accident victims and their families, who are often required to make important decisions in short spaces of time, while in a delicate physical and emotional state. To that end we’ve put together this Guide for People Injured in Road Accidents, which explains the rights and obligations of victims in terms of health and healthcare, so that they have a full understanding of the law and can make the decisions they feel are right for them, without any fear or manipulation by parties with a vested interest.
Tips on what to do if you are involved in a road accident
- Always go to the doctor
- Choose an accredited hospital
- Go for medical follow-up
- Confirm your injuries have been properly valued
Tips on choosing a health center
- Look for a center that offers quick service
- That offers quality in terms of its healthcare provision and its diagnostic tests
- That provides detailed attention and information
- Whose staff you trust and feel secure with
- Personalized and effective care
Why choose HM Hospitales?
At HM Hospitales, you’ll have access to teams of professionals from all medical specialties and receive personalized and comprehensive treatment, guaranteeing you a full and speedy recovery in a top-quality healthcare facility.
- First aid in A&E (open 24 hours a day).
- Follow up and care for the injured person at appointments with specialist doctors, and initiation of treatment.
- Promptness in performing the diagnostic tests prescribed by the specialist, which are carried out in comfortable and modern facilities with state-of-the-art equipment.
- Comprehensive service in the rehabilitation and physiotherapy process.
- Surgical unit and inpatient department.
- Detailed progress reports during the healing process, and medical discharge report.
- Administrative team that will take care of all communication with your insurance company, at no cost to the injured person.
- The security of being able to depend on a nationally renowned hospital group.
- HM Hospitales is a signatory to the UNESPA Agreement, under which people injured in road accidents are entitled to comprehensive healthcare, allowing patients to avoid having to deal with insurance companies.
Centers that offer the Road Injury Unit
Community of Madrid
HM Madrid - Plaza del Conde del Valle de Súchil, 16 28015 - Madrid
Tel.: 626422081 - E-mail: hmmadrid@interasis.es
HM Montepríncipe - Avenida de Montepríncipe nº 25 28660 Boadilla del Monte - Madrid
Tel.: 619480873 - E-mail: hmmonteprincipe@interasis.es
HM Torrelodones - Avenida Castillo Olivares, s/n 28250 Torrelodones - Madrid
Tel.: 609182945 - E-mail: hmtorrelodones@interasis.es
HM Sanchinarro - Calle Oña, 10 28050 Sanchinarro - Madrid
619481391 - E-mail: hmsanchinarro@interasis.es
HM Puerta del Sur - Avda. de Carlos V, 70 28938 Móstoles - Madrid
Tel.: 626420377 - E-mail: hmpuertadelsur@interasis.es
HM Vallés - Calle Santiago, 14 28801 Alcalá de Henares - Madrid
Tel.: 91 737 43 53 Ext. 445 - E-mail: ademingo@hmhospitales.com
Centro Médico La Paloma Torrejón de Ardoz - Madrid
Tel.: 916749996 - E-mail: hmmadrid@interasis.es
Galicia
HM Modelo - C/ Virrey Osorio, 30 15011 - A Coruña
Tel.: 981 14 73 30
HM Rosaleda - C/Santiago León de Caracas, 1 15701. Santiago de Compostela - A Coruña
Tel.: 628 323 898 - 981551200
HM La Esperanza - Avda. Das Burgas, 2 15705. Santiago de Compostela - A Coruña
Tel.: 628 323 898 - 981551200
HM Rosaleda - Lalín - Lalín - Pontevedra
Tel.: 986 787 464
León
HM San Francisco - C/ Marqueses de San Isidro, 11 24004 - León
Tel.: 987 20 23 00 Ext. 168 - 619 77 15 76
HM Regla - C/ Cardenal Landázuri, 2 - 24003 León
Tel.: 987 23 69 00 - 689 47 35 96