Civil law

How can I recover compensation for damage?

Huquqchi legal team

The person who caused damage must compensate it in full, including lost profit, when an unlawful act harmed a person or property. That person is released from liability if they prove the damage arose without their fault. The owner of a source of increased danger answers as a rule regardless of fault.

What you must prove

1) that damage was caused, and its amount; 2) the unlawful act (or failure to act) of the defendant; 3) the causal link between the act and the damage. Under article 985 of the Civil Code, the person who caused the damage proves the absence of fault: that person is released from liability only if they prove the damage was caused without their fault. When a contractual obligation is broken, the party who broke it also proves the absence of fault (article 333).

Types of damage

Under article 14 of the Civil Code: actual damage is property lost or harmed, and the costs a person has paid or will have to pay to restore the right that was broken. Lost profit is the income the person would have received in the ordinary conditions of civil turnover if the right had not been broken.

How to collect evidence

Photographs and video, reports, an expert opinion, a repair estimate, receipts and contracts, and the details of witnesses.

Liability regardless of fault

Under article 999 of the Civil Code, persons whose activity creates increased danger for those around them (transport organisations, industrial enterprises, construction sites, owners of vehicles and others) must compensate the damage caused by the source of increased danger. They are released from liability only if they prove the damage arose from force majeure or from the intent of the injured person. A person who breaks an obligation in business activity also answers as a rule unless they prove force majeure (article 333).

Legal sources

Legal basisCivil Code (part 2), article 985 Legal basisCivil Code (part 2), article 999 Legal basisCivil Code, article 14

This article gives legal information, not legal advice. For your own situation, consult a qualified lawyer.