COMPENSATION:
HOW MUCH ?
HOW ?

• THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF COMPENSATION

 

The first step is to register online so that we can verify your eligibility. If you are eligible, we will offer to represent you in the next PIP proceedings that we will initiate.

 

Our proposal covers your representation before all courts with a view to obtaining full compensation for your losses. We have 15 years of expertise in PIP proceedings. We have a solid network of correspondents and partners before the French courts (Paris, Toulon, Aix-en-Provence, Lyon).

 

The second step is to obtain a judgment recognising your status as a victim, ordering TÜV RHEINLAND to compensate you and granting you a provision (an advance) pending the full assessment of your damages with a view to your final compensation.

 

Advances granted vary between €3,000 and €5,000.

 

Decisions in France are enforceable by operation of law. This means that TÜV must pay immediately, even if it appeals.

 

The third stage is the judicial assessment. This involves the appointed medical experts consulting your file (which must be completed in advance) to assess your damages (see below WHAT DAMAGES?).

 

This is a document-based assessment. You will not need to travel to meet the experts.

 

These damages are assessed on a scale of 1 to 7 according to their severity.

 

This phase is adversarial. TUV also has your medical file and may contest the damages claimed with the experts.

 

The appointment of experts requires the payment of an expert assessment deposit (between €500 and €2,000), which constitutes an advance on their fees. It should be noted that the decisions handed down to date have ordered TUV to cover the costs of the expert assessment, which, if they have to be advanced by the victim, are then reimbursed by TUV, which ultimately covers all the costs.

 

The experts submit an expert report for each victim.

 

The fourth stage is the quantification of compensation (the settlement of damages).

 

While the experts' assessment consists of confirming the reality of the damages and evaluating them on a scale of 1 to 7, it is then up to the judge to quantify them in euros (see HOW MUCH? below).

 

The principle is that of full compensation: all damages must be compensated, without loss or profit for the victim.

 

This leads to a resumption of proceedings before the court, after the expert assessment, which issues a second decision, this time ordering TUV to compensate for all damages.

 

The sentence, which covers compensation for damages and costs, therefore supplements the provision (advance payment) paid at the end of the second stage.

 

All decisions are subject to appeal.

 

• JURISDICTION OF THE FRENCH COURTS

 

It has now been definitively established that French courts have jurisdiction to rule on compensation for victims in the PIP case, regardless of their country of origin or residence. This is one of the remarkable features of the decisions obtained by Olivier Aumaitre Avocats, which resulted in the French judge declaring himself competent to order a German group to compensate victims of all nationalities. It has also been definitively ruled that French law applies.

 

• PROOF OF PIP IMPLANT QUALITY

 

Although all silicone-filled products manufactured by PIP are affected, the courts have laid down very (too much?) strict rules requiring victims to provide proof that they are carriers of PIP breast implants pre-filled with high-cohesive silicone gel known as "IMGHC".

 

This proof can be provided by any means. It is generally provided by producing the PIP implant card, which includes stickers for each implant specifying their batch and serial numbers and bearing the IMGHC label.

 

• STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

 

For compensation for bodily injury, French law provides for a ten-year limitation period: the victim has 10 years to take legal action from the date of consolidation of their complications (when complications stop evolving). Experts have considered that the date of consolidation occurs (unless there are new complications) six months after the date of the PIP implant removal operation.

 

• WHAT DAMAGES?

 

All damages are compensable as long as they are related to the faults attributed to TÜV RHEINLAND.

 

The Dintilhac nomenclature is applied, which lists all existing damages, both financial (e.g. healthcare costs) and non-financial (pain and suffering, aesthetic damage, etc.), both temporary and permanent.

 

It should be noted that the experts, whose conclusions have been endorsed by the courts, have recognised that any woman who has or has had PIP implants (regardless of whether the removal was performed following a rupture or as a preventive measure), and regardless of her situation, suffers moral damage and anxiety, described as exceptional and permanent.

 

• HOW MUCH?

 

There is a reference system (Mornet) which, for each assessment of damage (on a scale of 1 to 7), proposes a range of compensation based on decisions handed down by French courts.

 

The exceptional nature of the PIP scandal led to the establishment of a compensation scale that takes into account the specificities of the case.

 

On 2nd February 2023, Olivier Aumaitre Avocats obtained the first decision in the PIP case from the Court of Appeal of Aix-en-Provence, ruling on the final compensation for PIP victims after expert assessment (excluding healthcare costs). This decision was upheld by the Court of Cassation in 2024.

 

Further rulings are expected shortly, which will enable a definitive compensation scale to be established.

 

Subject to this reservation, the following information can be provided:

 

The courts are now unanimous in considering that the single item "Moral damage and anxiety" leads to compensation of at least €6,000. This amount has been awarded to all victims, regardless of their situation (some courts have awarded this amount without the need for an expert assessment). It therefore represents the minimum compensation.

 

The decisions handed down to date have awarded victims compensation ranging from €6,000 to €36,000, depending on the severity of the situation. 

 

These amounts do not include additional healthcare costs (cost of replacement, medical follow-up). On this point, the courts require proof that these costs have not been covered by the social security system of the victim's country.

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In January 2026, Olivier Aumaître obtained the first ruling from the Toulon Commercial Court on final compensation following an expert assessment of an initial group of 371 TUV2 victims:

Compensation ranges from €6,000 to €47,000.

The costs of the expert assessment (including the experts' fees) were borne in full by TUV (which must also reimburse the victims for the expert assessment deposit they paid). 

TUV was also ordered to pay €100 in legal costs (Article 700 of the Code of Civil Procedure). 

The judgments are subject to legal interest.

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