Quick answer
Build the evidence file around six questions: does the event fall within the RAF injury scheme, who and which vehicle were involved, what negligent or wrongful driving is alleged, what bodily injury or death resulted, what loss is proved, and who has authority to claim. Keep a separate procedural section for the form, medical report, attachments and legally effective delivery.
How to use this guide
Evidence and lodgement are not interchangeable. A complete form does not prove the merits, and strong accident evidence does not excuse non-compliance with prescription and submission requirements.
Prove the statutory connection
The RAF Act concerns bodily injury or death caused by negligent or wrongful driving of a motor vehicle. Preserve the facts connecting the vehicle’s use and the driving conduct to the collision and injury. Record whether the injured person was a driver, passenger, pedestrian or another road user without assuming that status alone establishes the claim.
Keep vehicle damage material where it helps explain impact or movement, but separate any property-damage recovery. Repair costs are not ordinary compensation under the RAF bodily-injury scheme.
Identify every person and vehicle accurately
Reconcile claimant identity, injured-person identity, driver, owner, registration, police reference and contact information across the form and source records. Preserve licence, registration, accident-report and witness material lawfully available. If neither the driver nor owner can be identified, mark the matter as urgent rather than inserting a guessed identity.
Where a child, estate representative, dependant or person without capacity is involved, preserve birth, guardianship, curatorship, Master’s, death, marriage, maintenance or dependency records appropriate to the claimed capacity. Authority must be proved; possession of the file is not enough.
Organise liability evidence by disputed fact
Create an issue table for road layout, signals, direction, visibility, speed, evasive action, impact and events afterwards. Link each fact to a police record, witness, original photograph, video, telematics source or participant account. Separate personal observation from later information and preserve contrary versions.
Do not coach witnesses or annotate the only original. Keep source, date, filename and custodian, and use working copies for diagrams or captions. A dramatic collision does not automatically establish negligent driving by the party alleged.
Connect treatment and injury to the accident
Index ambulance, emergency, hospital, imaging, procedure, discharge, rehabilitation and follow-up records. Identify prior conditions and later events relevant to the same symptoms or function. A treatment gap should be explained with evidence rather than hidden.
The claim medical report and clinical records support the injury process. RAF 4 belongs to the separate serious-injury assessment for general damages. Preserve each report’s author, field, records considered and version, and do not assume one report proves every head of loss.
Prove each loss category independently
Use itemised invoices, receipts, medical-scheme statements and payment evidence for past expenses. For earnings, connect job or business history to medical restrictions, actual work change, payments received and a reproducible schedule. Future treatment, care and earning capacity require properly supported assumptions.
Keep expert instructions and reports with the complete record supplied. An expert calculation or opinion should identify its reasoning and limits, not replace the factual sources on which it depends.
Document everyday function without manufacturing evidence
Keep ordinary records showing how the injury affects movement, self-care, household tasks, study, work, transport and treatment attendance. A dated diary can record symptoms, medication, missed activities and help received, but it should use the claimant’s own observations and should not copy diagnostic language from an expert report. Preserve appointment messages, rehabilitation attendance and assistive-device records that independently anchor important entries.
If family members provide care, identify the task, frequency, period and person rather than using a broad statement that “constant care” was needed. Note improvement as well as difficulty. A balanced record is more useful than a diary created only on the worst days, and it gives a future assessor material that can be compared with clinical findings and reported work capacity.
Control what is handed to each expert
Create an instruction index for every expert or treating practitioner asked to report. Record the question posed, documents supplied, missing records disclosed and version of the resulting report. The medical report accompanying the prescribed claim form, the RAF 4 serious-injury assessment and reports directed to particular loss questions perform different functions; do not rename one to fill another gap.
When new material arrives, preserve the earlier instruction and report before requesting an addendum. This shows what information informed the first opinion and prevents silent replacement of an unfavourable or incomplete version. Expert evidence should remain traceable to the source file, not become a parallel narrative whose assumptions cannot be checked.
Preserve the lodgement event
Keep the legally operative signed form, every attachment, numbered index, receiving office, delivery method, tracking or receipt and later acknowledgements, objections and requests. Record the form source and date checked because public versions and legal requirements can change.
If a previous pack was returned, not acknowledged or challenged, preserve the exact attempt. Do not overwrite it with a corrected version before advice on validity and prescription. The identified, unidentified and post-lodgement time periods require separate analysis.
Maintain an evidence gap register
List missing items, custodian, request date, response and effect on the claim. Prioritise short-retention digital material, authority documents, the official accident record and first medical evidence. Preserve sensitive health, identity and financial information through controlled channels.
Review the gap register before every expert instruction or formal response. This prevents different advisers from relying on inconsistent versions and makes an honest unknown visible instead of turning it into an unsupported fact.
Create a contradiction table for dates, identities, vehicle details, medical history and income figures that differ across sources. Record each version, its creator, the reason it may differ and the proper route for clarification. Do not change an original to make the file consistent. A documented discrepancy can be assessed; an unexplained alteration can undermine the integrity of the wider evidence pack.
What an evidence file cannot guarantee
Preservation does not guarantee valid lodgement, negligent driving, causation, serious-injury status, compensation or timing. Evidence remains subject to reliability, relevance and legal assessment. Current forms, prescription and delivery must be checked for the claimant’s facts, especially where the vehicle is unidentified or an earlier submission is disputed.
FAQs
What is the difference between RAF documents and evidence?
The procedural pack supports legally effective lodgement; the wider evidence file proves the accident, negligent driving, injury, causation, authority and each loss.
Should adverse evidence be kept?
Yes. Preserve conflicting or unfavourable material so it can be assessed and explained rather than appearing to have been withheld.
Does proof of lodgement prove the claim is valid?
No. It proves the submission event. Validity, liability, injury, loss and other requirements remain open to assessment.
Is RAF 4 evidence needed for every claim?
No. It relates to the serious-injury route for general damages and is distinct from evidence for other heads and the claim medical report.
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Source notes
Legal note
This article is general legal information for South African readers. It is not legal advice. Speak to a qualified legal professional about your specific facts before taking action.