CAN A HOUSEWIFE WHO HAS A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT AND BECOMES DISABLED ASK FOR TEMPORARY-CONTINUOUS INCAPACITY COMPENSATION?
Our article on the subject
"4th Civil Chamber 2021/6778 E., 2021/9562 K.
The claimant is a housewife, and according to the report from ... University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Forensic Medicine, the healing period due to injuries from the accident was determined to be 45 days. In the actuarial expert report, a temporary incapacity compensation of 963 TL for this 45-day period was calculated and awarded by the Arbitration Board.
Considering that the claimant was a housewife at the time of the accident and did not have any income-generating employment (nor did the claimant provide any concrete evidence or claims to the contrary), there can be no mention of lost earnings in this context. Therefore, awarding temporary incapacity compensation to the claimant constitutes an inadequate examination, and thus, the decision given in the stated manner necessitates reversal."
Konya BAM, 3rd HD., E. 2024/609 K. 2024/789 T. 30.4.2024
In the examination of the objection that the claimant is a housewife and therefore there is no temporary incapacity for work:
Housewives should not be seen as people who do not have a job and earnings. Being a housewife is also a profession. Moreover, it is a lifelong occupation. If a housewife is injured as a result of a traffic accident, it is accepted that this loss of strength will be paid as compensation, since she will have difficulty in performing her domestic services in proportion to the loss of her physical strength. Even if there is no permanent disability, not performing domestic services for a period of time due to the injury will also be considered as temporary incapacity for work and a damage calculation will have to be made for the duration of this period. The calculation of compensation for domestic services will be based on the legal net minimum wage. The minimum subsistence allowance for employees will not be applied for housewives. In other words, the damage calculation will be made over the net minimum wage found by fully deducting the income tax. (Bodily damages arising from traffic accidents and compensation - Konya Bar Association publications. Shf 13, member of the Court of Cassation: Hüseyin TUZTAŞ)
When the concrete case is examined, since it is understood that the actuarial report dated 30/05/2018 obtained by the IDC is in accordance with the procedure, the defendant's appeal regarding this is not deemed appropriate.
4th Civil Chamber 2022/11372 E. , 2022/14207 K.
The lawsuit is related to the claim for pecuniary compensation for bodily harm caused by a traffic accident.
In the actuary's report, which was taken for the calculation of the loss of labour compensation that the claimant may be entitled to and accepted as the basis for the decision; it is seen that the calculation was made based on the minimum wage including the LVI for the period considered as the active working period of the claimant. The minimum subsistence allowance is a payment in return for actual work, and it is not possible to include it in the wage when calculating compensation for loss of effort for people who do not actually work. In this respect; for the plaintiff, who is a housewife and does not actually work in an income-generating job, while calculating the compensation for loss of labour (loss of effort), it is necessary to calculate over the minimum wage not included in the AGI in all periods when the compensation calculation is made (also for the period considered as the active period). The report that does not observe this aspect is erroneous, and making a decision with incomplete examination according to the aforementioned report required a reversal.
Court of Cassation Decision – 4th Civil Chamber, Case No: 2022/10263, Decision No: 2022/12643, Date: 19.10.2022
The case concerns a claim for material compensation due to bodily injury arising from a traffic accident.
In the concrete case; it is clearly established from the file content that the claimant was a housewife and not employed in any income-generating activity at the time of the accident. In the actuarial report prepared as a basis for calculating the compensation for loss of workforce, it is observed that the calculation for the claimant's temporary incapacity period, considered as an active working period, was made based on the minimum wage including AGİ (Minimum Living Allowance).
The AGİ amount constitutes a payment corresponding to actual employment and thus cannot be included in calculating compensation for loss of effort for individuals who are not actually employed. Consequently, when calculating compensation for loss of workforce (loss of effort) for the claimant, who is a housewife and not actively engaged in income-generating employment, the calculation must be based on the minimum wage excluding AGİ for all periods, including the period considered as the active period. A report that fails to account for this aspect is erroneous.
Due to the above-mentioned reasons, the decision must be based on an additional expert report calculated using the net minimum wage excluding AGİ for the claimant's active period, including the temporary incapacity period (while calculations for the passive period remain as initially reported). Therefore, rendering a decision without considering these details and conducting an incomplete review requires reversal.