Portè coach crash victims sue for compensation a year on

One year after the coach crash in Portè that left three people dead and around forty injured, victims are demanding compensation. About half of the passengers have launched legal actions in Spain to seek compensation, according to the Spanish newspaper El Periódico.

"Passengers have initiated legal proceedings in Spain to try to unblock the situation and ensure that victims receive, as soon as possible, full compensation," one of the victims' lawyers told the paper. The lawyer said many victims are in precarious, vulnerable situations, with some struggling even to pay rent, and added that insurer Allianz "has not yet fully compensated any of them."

Allianz replied that it has provided advance payments to those affected "without delay" throughout the process and has covered medical expenses, including repatriation of the bodies.

The lawyer also noted that the investigation in France is not finished and the official file there remains open while exhaustive expert assessments are carried out. He criticised the practice of automatically reducing compensation by 25% for seatbelt use for all passengers, saying such a blanket reduction is unacceptable when individual circumstances cannot be proven case by case.

The Despatx Indemnització per Accident law firm reported that only two of its clients have received a final compensation offer from the insurer after completing rehabilitation. The firm said the amounts offered are insufficient beyond the 25% seatbelt reduction, and they continue to press for increased settlements.