Facts
The plaintiff, [A.], who was 19 years old at the time, suffered a serious traffic accident on June 3, 1990 as a motorcyclist. The third-party liability insurance of the negligent driver, B., compensated [A.] for the material and personal damages suffered. The claim for moral compensation remained in dispute.
[A.] claimed from the Cantonal Court of Zug a moral compensation in the form of a lifelong annuity of CHF 3,000 per month, in addition to a lump-sum compensation. The Cantonal Court and the Higher Court of the Canton of Zug rejected this claim. [A.] then filed an appeal with the Federal Tribunal.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal considers that moral compensation can indeed take the form of an annuity, in addition to lump-sum compensation. However, the annuity must be proportionate to the compensation that would be awarded in the form of a lump sum. In this case, the annuity claimed by A. (at least CHF 50 and at most CHF 100 per day) would lead to a total compensation significantly higher than the amount of CHF 140,000 deemed…