The lawyer and the REMA report:
distinct roles and cooperation
in a compensation claim

01 / Medical assessment

What is a
REMA report?

The Insurance Medicine Assessment Report is the document through which a medical expert assessor analyses the traumatic consequences of a vehicle accident and calculates the trauma score under the official Romanian schedule.

The assessment includes examination of the injured person and relevant records, identification of injuries and their consequences, verification of direct causation, distinction from pre-existing conditions and scoring of the initial injuries, complications and permanent consequences.

These tasks belong to the medical assessor under Joint ASF–Ministry of Health Order no. 1/2,293/2022. A lawyer cannot replace the medical examination or determine the diagnosis or score.

02 / Preparing the claim

What the lawyer may do
before REMA.

Legal representation is not mandatory for requesting the report. In a complex matter, early legal advice may nevertheless help organise the claim and preserve relevant evidence.

• review the accident circumstances and evidence of liability;
• identify the insurer, correspondent or competent compensation body;
• distinguish the medical file from the legal compensation claim;
• organise the chronology of the accident, treatment and communications;
• identify missing documents and monitor legal time limits;
• retain evidence that requests and records were delivered;
• formulate clear legal objectives without suggesting medical conclusions.

The lawyer may identify a procedural deadline, but the medically appropriate timing of the assessment is decided by the medical expert assessor according to the injuries and their course.

03 / Neutral questions

Questions that may be put
to the medical assessor.

The lawyer may send records and ask which injuries are directly related to the accident, whether complications or permanent consequences exist, whether the current condition is attributable to the trauma or an earlier disorder, and whether the medical evidence needs to be supplemented.

04 / Professional boundaries

What the lawyer
cannot do.

• determine the diagnosis or medical causation;
• select a schedule item or calculate the score instead of the doctor;
• require a relevant pre-existing condition to be disregarded;
• withhold important medical evidence selectively;
• require recognition of a complication or permanent consequence;
• amend the medical conclusions directly;
• guarantee a particular score or compensation amount.

If an inconsistency is identified, the lawyer may request clarification. The medical response and any justified correction belong exclusively to the report's author.

05 / Using the report

What the lawyer does
after REMA is issued.

The lawyer integrates the report with the other evidence in the compensation file. The lawyer may check identification details and the records considered, request clarification of a material error and prepare the compensation claim.

The work continues through filing the report and supporting documents, quantifying other heads of loss separately, monitoring the insurer's response and reviewing the offer or refusal.

Under Law no. 132/2017, the injured person may submit the claim directly or through a representative, including electronically.

06 / Separate components

REMA does not represent
the whole loss.

The trauma score is important but does not prove every loss by itself. In the amicable procedure it concerns physical suffering. Psychological trauma, lost income, treatment, transport, rehabilitation, medical devices, third-party care and other individual consequences require their own supporting evidence.

The lawyer identifies and organises those components. The medical assessor does not determine lost earnings, the amount of expenses or the final sum payable by the insurer.

See also why a Romanian RCA compensation offer may be lower.

07 / Checking the calculation

How the lawyer reviews
the insurer's offer.

A bodily injury offer must allow the calculation to be understood. ASF Rule no. 20/2017 requires the detailed calculation and reference sources.

• whether all records and the REMA report were considered;
• whether the score used corresponds with the report;
• the traumatic-point value and relevant reference date;
• whether proven expenses or losses were omitted;
• whether contributory fault is alleged and on what evidence;
• what reductions or adjustments were made and why;
• whether the amount is full payment or only the undisputed part.

Legal review does not alter the score. It examines whether the insurer has used the report and the other evidence correctly.

08 / Remedies

If the offer is too low
or compensation is refused.

A reduced offer is not automatically unlawful; the difference must be examined. A refusal must likewise be compared with the reasons given and the evidence available.

1. 1

   Clarify the calculation

   The lawyer may request reasons and sources for every exclusion or reduction.

2. 2

   Complete the evidence

   New records may be filed and a review of the compensation may be requested.

3. 3

   Request the undisputed amount

   If only the difference is disputed, payment of the sum recognised by the insurer may be sought.

4. 4

   Select the appropriate route

   Depending on the case, negotiation, an ASF complaint, SAL-Fin or court proceedings may be considered.

These mechanisms serve different functions. The choice depends on the nature of the disagreement, the evidence, cost and likely duration.

09 / Important clarification

Can the lawyer obtain
a higher score?

A lawyer cannot promise or obtain a higher score merely by asking for one. The lawyer may identify an omitted document, a later complication, stabilisation of a permanent consequence, a diagnostic inconsistency or the need for further investigations.

The Joint Order permits a new examination where new clinical, functional or laboratory findings emerge. Its purpose is not a predetermined increase, but an objective account of the documented medical condition.

10 / Professional independence

Cooperation,
not subordination.

Protecting each profession's independence strengthens both the credibility of the report and the quality of the claim as a whole.

11 / Practice

Frequent mistakes
to avoid.

• requesting a predetermined number of points;
• providing medical evidence selectively;
• confusing legal fault with medical causation;
• assessing the injuries at an unsuitable medical stage;
• treating the trauma score as the whole compensation;
• accepting an offer without reviewing the calculation and effect of the signature;
• promising a guaranteed outcome or sum.

12 / Complex cases

When legal assistance may be
particularly useful.

Legal assistance may become important when liability is disputed, contributory fault is alleged, the offer is substantially reduced, compensation is refused, injuries are severe, permanent consequences remain or pre-existing conditions complicate causation.

It may also be relevant to psychological trauma, occupational loss, foreign insurance, minors or vulnerable persons and claims likely to proceed through SAL-Fin or the courts.

13 / Frequently asked questions

Important
clarifications.