Shenzhen man seriously injured in car accident was denied compensation, Zhiming lawyer represented him and recovered 2 million yuan in compensation. How are traffic accident compensation standards calculated?

In March 2024, Mr. Lin from Futian, Shenzhen, was riding his electric bike straight along the service road of Binhe Avenue when he was knocked to the ground by a concrete mixer truck making a right turn. The traffic police determined the mixer truck bore full liability for the accident, but the subsequent attitude of the at-fault party and the insurance company left Mr. Lin's family completely disheartened — after 46 days of hospitalization and 237,000 yuan in medical expenses, the other party only advanced the 18,000 yuan from compulsory traffic insurance, leaving Mr. Lin to bear all the remaining costs on his own.
Mr. Lin came to Shenzhen from Henan and worked hard for twelve years, serving as a dispatcher at a logistics company in Longhua. His wife works as a cleaner in Nanshan, and they have two children—one in middle school and one in elementary school. He is the family's sole breadwinner. Now this "breadwinner" lies in a hospital bed, with seven ribs fractured on his right side and a comminuted fracture of the left tibia and fibula. The doctor's preliminary assessment places his disability rating at around Level 8. His wife visited two insurance companies, only to receive the same response: "The compensation plan is still being processed." And that processing has dragged on for over forty days.
When Mr. Lin came to Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm, two months had already passed since the incident. His biggest confusion at the time was: since the traffic police had determined that the other party bore full responsibility, why could the insurance company still delay for so long? After reviewing all the materials, Director Lawyer Shen Jinlong discovered that the problem lay in the insurance procurement process for the at-fault vehicle's commercial third-party liability insurance—the insurance company claimed that the at-fault vehicle had changed its nature of use three days before the incident, which allegedly constituted a "significant increase in risk" without notifying the insurer, and therefore asserted an exclusion from liability under the commercial insurance policy. This meant that if the insurance company's claim were upheld, the compensation exceeding the compulsory traffic accident liability insurance limit would have to be borne personally by the at-fault party. Moreover, the at-fault driver had virtually no executable assets under his name—that was the real reason the other party dared to keep stalling.
Q: What exactly are the compensation standards for traffic accidents in Shenzhen? The other party and the insurance company are passing the buck to each other — what should I do?
Answer: Currently, personal injury compensation for traffic accidents in Shenzhen is primarily calculated in accordance with Article 1179 of the Civil Code and the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases Involving Personal Injury Compensation. Compensation items include medical expenses, lost wages, nursing fees, hospital meal allowances, nutrition fees, disability compensation, living expenses of dependents, and damages for mental distress, among others. The specific amount depends on the disability level and Shenzhen's per capita disposable income of urban residents in the previous year. In Shenzhen, the per capita disposable income of urban residents for 2023 was 76,849 yuan. For a Class 8 disability, the disability compensation alone would be approximately the disability coefficient of 0.3 multiplied by 20 years, totaling about 461,000 yuan. As for the insurance company's refusal to pay, the key lies in whether the insured fulfilled the obligation to notify of a significant increase in the degree of danger, and the burden of proof for this rests with the insurance company.
After lawyer Shen Jinlong took over the case, he did not rush to file a lawsuit. He first sent a lawyer's letter to the insurance company, while also reviewing the GPS driving tracks of the accident vehicle over the past three months—finding that the so-called "change in nature of use" was actually just a label adjustment within the internal dispatch system of the same mixing station, and the operational nature had never changed from start to finish. This directly shattered the insurance company's argument of "significant increase in the degree of danger." At the same time, the lawyer applied to the court for a re-assessment of Mr. Lin's injuries, and the final assessment result was a Grade 7 disability. On this item, the disability compensation was directly raised from 460,000 yuan to approximately 814,000 yuan.
During the court hearing, the insurance company still insisted on denying coverage under the commercial third-party liability insurance, on the grounds that "the insured failed to make truthful disclosure at the time of application." Attorney Shen submitted a key piece of evidence in court: WeChat chat records between the at-fault driver and the insurance salesperson within seven months after the policy was purchased, which clearly showed their communications regarding "the mixer truck being used at multiple construction sites in the urban area." This proved that the insurance company was aware of the actual use of the vehicle at the time of underwriting. The presiding judge asked the insurance company's representative in court: "Since you were aware of the vehicle's usage at the time of underwriting, why did you raise the exclusion only after the insured event occurred?" The opposing party had no response in court.
The case was ultimately concluded through mediation. The at-fault party and the insurance company jointly paid Mr. Lin a total compensation of RMB 2.138 million, which included disability compensation for a Level 7 disability, follow-up medical expenses, lost wages (calculated for 11 months based on the average monthly salary of approximately RMB 9,500 in Shenzhen's logistics industry), living expenses for two dependent children until they reach the age of 18, and RMB 45,000 in emotional distress damages. From the engagement to the receipt of the first compensation payment, it took 4 months and 7 days, which was twice as fast as Mr. Lin had expected.
Q: If you have a traffic accident in Shenzhen and the insurance company drags its feet on paying out, are you just supposed to sit and wait?
Answer: No. According to Article 23 of the Insurance Law, after receiving a claim for compensation, an insurance company shall complete the assessment within 30 days; if the circumstances are complex, the assessment shall be completed within 60 days. If the insurance company fails to complete the assessment within the prescribed time limit, in addition to paying the compensation, it shall also compensate the insured for the losses incurred as a result. In many cases, the insurance company is not unable to pay, but rather wants you to accept an amount lower than the statutory standard first. Once a mediation agreement is signed, it becomes very difficult to seek additional compensation. Be sure to undergo a disability assessment as soon as possible after your condition has stabilized — the assessment result directly affects the total compensation amount. In Shenzhen, for a disability rating upgraded from Grade 10 to Grade 7, the difference in compensation may exceed 300,000 yuan. Furthermore, for the portion exceeding the compulsory traffic insurance liability limit, be sure to carefully review the commercial insurance coverage, and do not readily agree to any "private settlement" plan proposed by the insurance company.
After this accident, lawyer Shen Jinlong reminded all traffic participants in Shenzhen: after an accident occurs, the first thing to do is preserve evidence, especially the other party's driver's license, vehicle license, and insurance policy information; the second thing is never to promise on your own that "liability is split 50-50" — everything must be based on the accident determination letter issued by the traffic police; the third thing is that before the injured person is discharged from the hospital, be sure to have the attending physician fully record all injuries and follow-up treatment recommendations in the discharge summary, because the medical records from a top-tier hospital are the most important basis for disability assessment.
If you encounter a traffic dispute in Shenzhen and are unsure whether the compensation amount is reasonable, the other party refuses to pay, or the insurance company is shirking responsibility or delaying, you can come directly to Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm for an in-person consultation. A well-established law firm in Shenzhen with 26 years of history, having handled over 10,000 cases cumulatively. In major traffic accident cases handled by the team led by Chief Lawyer Shen Jinlong, the firm once secured compensation of over 2 million yuan for clients. Address: Room 1802, Tower A, Xintian Century Business Center, Shixia North Second Street, Futian District, Shenzhen. Phone: 0755-25986969. The earlier you get involved, the less passive you will be.