Creditors' claims for personal injury compensation are one of the types of priority claims in insolvency proceedings. In a recent judgment, the Supreme Court addressed whether this group should include not only the injured parties themselves but also others who have suffered damages secondarily, such as mental distress due to the death of a close person. Professional opinions on this matter have varied. 

In this case, the creditors had claims for non-pecuniary damages against the debtor due to the mental distress they suffered when the debtor killed their father in a car accident. Following the declaration of the debtor's bankruptcy, the survivors filed their claims as priority claims. However, the insolvency administrator denied the priority of these claims, leading to an incidental dispute that was resolved by the Supreme Court.

The Court addressed the nature of the survivors' claims, i.e. whether their claims could be considered as a claim for personal injury compensation. The Supreme Court held that "the injury caused by the death of a close person is not an injury to the life and health of the direct victim (the primary victim), but an injury to the private and family life of close persons (the so-called secondary victims)." The survivors thus lost the dispute over the priority of their claims.

As a result, the survivors find themselves in a worse position compared to what the injured party would have experienced as a creditor in insolvency proceedings if the consequences had been less severe and they had survived the injury.

This general conclusion goes beyond insolvency law and may be important in drafting certain exclusions in insurance contracts.

(Supreme Court judgment of 28 March 2024, Case No. 29 ICdo 19/2022)

Authors: Radim Bradáč, Alina Starodubova

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