What can reduce your claim
You want to know what can lower your claim before you are surprised by it.
What is deducted from a road accident claim depends on the type of deduction, since Malaysian law treats a few situations very differently from each other. A reduction for your own share of fault is common and lawful.[1] Money you already received from insurance, EPF (Employees Provident Fund) or a pension is generally not deducted from a dependency award at all.[2] This page separates what actually reduces a claim from what commonly gets assumed to, wrongly.
What can reduce your claim
Being partly at fault for the accident can reduce your compensation, through the contributory negligence rule, once a court decides your own share of responsibility.[1] When you were partly at fault explains how that reduction actually works.
What is generally not deducted
Sums received through insurance payouts, EPF savings or a pension are generally not deducted from a dependency claim after a death.[2] The same principle generally protects other benefits you receive independently of the claim itself.
Why special damages can look smaller than expected
This is not really a deduction, but proof. Special damages only includes costs you can show with a receipt or record, so an unproven cost is left out rather than deducted. Special damages explains this requirement in more depth.
Legal costs and how they are generally handled
Legal costs are generally dealt with separately from the compensation itself, often following the outcome of the case, rather than being subtracted directly from your award. Fee arrangements are a separate topic from what this page covers.
A quick way to think about it
- A genuine reduction: your own share of fault.
- Not deducted: insurance, EPF and pension payouts, for a dependency claim.
- Not a deduction, but a requirement: special damages must be proved to be included at all.
What to do next
How compensation is worked out sets out where each head of loss sits, and a road accident claim covers the wider process this fits within.
Common questions
Will my EPF savings reduce what my family can claim after a death?
Generally no. EPF (Employees Provident Fund), insurance and pension sums received independently are not deducted from a dependency award, so receiving them does not lower what the family can otherwise claim.
Does the other driver's insurer deduct their legal costs from my payout?
Legal costs are generally handled separately from the compensation itself, often following the outcome of the case, rather than being taken directly out of your award.
If I was partly at fault, is that called a deduction?
It is usually described as a reduction rather than a deduction, applied once a court decides your share of responsibility for the accident, under the contributory negligence rule.
Why did my special damages come out lower than I expected?
This is usually because an item could not be proved with a receipt or record, rather than a deliberate deduction. Special damages only includes costs you can specifically show, so gathering proof matters more here than anywhere else.
Sources
- Civil Law Act 1956, s.12 (Attorney General's Chambers) (accessed 2026-09-22)
- Thomas Philip, on Civil Law Act 1956, s.7 (accessed 2026-09-22)