If as a foreigner you have been a victim of a crime, you should report it to the nearest police office and describe in details what happened to you. Also, you witnesses of it can be asked for help. In a case you are accused of committing a crime, you can get free legal representation in the court.
Obtaining compensation in the case of motor insurance claims
If you own a motor vehicle, it must be covered by motor liability insurance [ubezpieczenie komunikacyjne odpowiedzialności cywilnej, OC]. If as the user of the vehicle – namely the driver you cause an accident or damages another person’s property, or leads to health disorder, injury or death, the insurance company with which the user entered into a motor liability contract (OC), should pay the compensation to people affected by it. To obtain compensation for personal injury that relates to physical injury or health disorder, you need to provide relevant proof, certificates and bills, justifying the basis for your claim for compensation and the amount you are seeking. When claiming compensation for a decrease in the value of your car you need to specify the amount of damage and submit it to the insurance company in writing. If it is rejected, you can go directly to the court. It is possible that the party responsible for the accident is uninsured or cannot be identified. In such case, the claim should be made with any insurance company, which then transfers all gathered documentation to the insurance guarantee fund, which, on fulfillment of additional conditions, shall be liable for paying out the compensation.
Obtaining compensation in the event of damages related to the working environment
If you are employed in Poland, your employer must pay social insurance institution contributions (Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych, ZUS), which, in an accident at work happens, shall cover the compensation. If, however, the ZUS contributions are insufficient to cover all the medical expenses, you can claim compensation from your employer. It is important to report the accident to the employer right after it occurs. He or she should, among other things, write down the accident report and complete the accident form. These documents should be submitted to the competent labour inspection authority. Also ZUS will require them to give you a proper compensation. Parallel to the payments claimed from ZUS, the employee who suffered from the accident at work resulting in injury or health disorder, may also claim compensation from his employer under the provisions of the Civil Code. Generally, the injured employee should present some evidence of employer’s liability, the damage suffered and the cause- effect link. In this case, an assistance of a lawyer may be necessary.
