How Long Does It Take to Get a Payment from RAF?

A standard Road Accident Fund (RAF) claim — for a third party injured by a motor vehicle and claiming past and future loss of earnings, medical expenses, and “general damages” — typically takes between 18 and 24 months from lodgement of the claim form to receipt of a first payment. A serious-injury claim under section 18 of the RAF Act 56 of 1996 (as amended) usually takes three to five years, because the merits and quantum steps run sequentially, and the longstanding RAF backlog has regularly pushed real-world timelines further. Where the RAF pays late, every Rand owed carries mora interest at the statutory rate from the date it became payable.

What “Getting a Payment from the RAF” Actually Involves

A valid RAF payment is the end of a four-stage pipeline: (1) lodgement of the prescribed claim form; (2) merits resolution, often through the Gauteng Division of the High Court or by settlement once the RAF has accepted liability; (3) quantum settlement — negotiated, or failing that, a court-determined award on the prescribed tariff; and (4) the RAF’s actual payment run. The framework is the Road Accident Fund Act 56 of 1996 as amended by the 2008 and 2015 Amendment Acts, which moved general damages onto a prescribed tariff and created the interim-payment mechanism via the 2008 RAF Undertaking.

Lodgement and the Two-Year Prescription Cut-Off

A claim must be lodged on the prescribed RAF claim form (RAF 1 for accidents on or after 1 August 2008, Form 1 for earlier accidents) within two years of the accident. The cut-off runs from the accident date under the Prescription Act 68 of 1969, with only narrow grounds extending it. Section 23(3) of the RAF Act gives a claimant a further two years to issue summons if the form has been lodged but not settled — but lodgement itself is a hard deadline. The form can be lodged soon after the accident, with medical evidence attached as it becomes available. Missing documents on lodgement are one of the most common causes of delay.

Typical Timeline for a Clean, Uncontested Claim

Stage	Realistic timeframe
Lodgement (RAF 1) to RAF acknowledgement	2–6 weeks
RAF merits assessment and outcome (clean claim)	Around 180 days from the date the file is complete
Quantum settlement by negotiation (post-merits)	3–6 months
Quantum settlement by court order (if contested)	6–18 months additional
RAF payment run after settlement or offer acceptance	30–90 days (RAF’s stated target is typically 30 days; the actual run is often longer)

A clean, fully-documented, uncontested claim often resolves inside a year and a half; a 24-month end-to-end experience is the more commonly reported outcome and is what claimants should plan around.

Where the Timeline Breaks: Serious Injury and Disputed Liability

Claims under section 18 of the RAF Act — serious-injury claims defined in the regulations as long-term impairment above the prescribed threshold — move to a different procedural track. The merits question (“is this claim serious-injury-actionable?”) and the quantum question (“what is the appropriate award under the tariff?”) run sequentially, and both can be heavily contested. Section 18 files routinely run three to five years from lodgement to order, longer if either side litigates the seriousness threshold itself. Disputed-liability claims (driver disputes fault, or a mechanical-defence, motor-defect, or unknown-vehicle defence is raised) carry the same delay mechanics from a different starting point: the merits step on liability is added back in front of quantum. The Fund’s backlog has been publicly acknowledged; the Public Protector found the RAF in breach of its constitutional obligations and called for a Claims Management Plan to turnaround it.

What “Payment” Means After the Settlement Is Reached

A signed settlement agreement is not the payment — it is the trigger for the RAF’s payment run: internal approval chain (including the claims committee for amounts above RAF delegation thresholds), drafting of the order or settlement in the form the RAF requires, raising of an authority to pay, and the clearance and EFT. The stated turnaround is typically 30 days; in practice the run regularly takes longer on larger quantum awards that must clear higher internal approval levels.

Late Payment, Mora Interest, and What the Claimant Recovers

If the RAF pays later than the contractual or settlement date, the difference carries mora interest at the statutory rate from the date payment was due, set under the Prescribed Rate of Interest Act 55 of 1975 at the repo-linked rate prescribed by regulation. Mora-interest recovery against the RAF is well-established practice — a recent Supreme Court of Appeal decision (March 2026) addressed the RAF’s liability for interest on arrear payments. Interest can also be claimed on taxed costs orders and on interim payments the RAF has delayed under the 2008 Undertaking. Interest is recoverable, not discretionary.

What Speeds a Claim Up and What Slows It Down

Speeds the claim up	Slows the claim down
Complete lodgement pack from day one (RAF 1, ID, police case number, treating-doctor report, employer/funder documents)	Missing or expired documents on lodgement — claims sit idle until the file is whole
Medical reports and actuarial future-loss reports attached early	Late or absent actuarial future-loss reports, which block any quantum negotiation
A treating-doctor report that pre-empts RAF medical-examination challenges	Disputes over the seriousness threshold under the section 18 regulations
Willingness to consider a structured settlement for a large quantum	An opposing side that demands a full court hearing on quantum
Invoking the 2008 Undertaking for an interim payment while quantum continues	The publicly acknowledged RAF backlog, which affects real-world turnaround for every stage

Practical Choices the Claimant Gets to Make

Three decisions recur on most RAF files, and each one shifts both the timeline and the net recovery:

• Settle or litigate quantum. Settling once the RAF has accepted liability is faster but produces a smaller gross award. Litigating to judgment often runs longer and increases the eventual award, partly offset by taxed costs and the time value of waiting.
• Invoke the 2008 Undertaking for an interim payment. This allows a partial recovery from the Fund’s own resources while negotiations continue — the standard cash-flow bridge in a long matter.
• Claim mora interest on the final settlement run. Interest on capital, on costs, and on delayed interim payments is recoverable under the Prescribed Rate of Interest Act and forms part of the final settlement amount.

Burger Huyser’s general litigation practice — headed by Director Nadine Roesch-Prinsloo, who lists MVA claims and insurance repudiations among her named specialisations — runs this work across the firm’s Gauteng branches.

RAF Payments in Gauteng: Where the Litigation Pipeline Is Concentrated

The Road Accident Fund is a single national statutory fund headquartered in Centurion, Pretoria (2 Eco Glades Office Park, 420 Witch Hazel Avenue, contact centre 087 820 1111), and the practical litigation layer is concentrated in and around that locus regardless of where the accident occurred. Enforcement action against the RAF runs through the Gauteng Division of the High Court, with the Pretoria seat (and a parallel Johannesburg seat) as the natural venue. Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Centurion branch at Block 12, Unit 34, First Floor, Central Office Park, 257 Jean Avenue (012 644 4990, after-hours 061 516 7117) is the closest listed branch to the RAF’s Centurion headquarters. Current RAF turnaround targets and the current claim form should be confirmed directly on raf.co.za before any commitment to a specific timeline.

Burger Huyser Attorneys runs Road Accident Fund claims through its general litigation practice (Director Nadine Roesch-Prinsloo lists MVA claims and insurance repudiations among her specialisations), with files handled across the firm’s Gauteng branches and the Centurion office (012 644 4990) the closest practical intake point for Gauteng-based claimants. The firm does not publish target turnaround timelines in advance — every RAF matter carries its own liability and quantum fact pattern, and an estimate is only meaningful after the claim is opened. The firm quotes on a per-file basis after reviewing lodgement status and quantum exposure.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does an RAF claim take from lodgement to payment?

For a clean, uncontested claim, typical end-to-end timelines run 18–24 months from lodgement of the prescribed claim form to receipt of the first payment. Section 18 serious-injury claims usually take three to five years because merits and quantum run sequentially and the seriousness threshold itself is often contested.

What stage is usually the longest?

The quantum settlement stage is usually the longest for a clean file — drafting the settlement, getting it signed, and negotiating quantum can run several months. Where quantum is contested, a damages hearing adds another 6–18 months.

What is the RAF’s stated turnaround for payment after a settlement is reached?

The RAF’s stated target is generally around 30 days from the date the settlement agreement is signed and submitted in the format the RAF requires. In practice the actual run often takes longer, particularly on awards that must clear higher internal approval thresholds.

Does the RAF pay interest if it pays late?

Yes. Late payment carries mora interest at the statutory rate from the date the payment became due, and the recovery of that interest — on capital, on costs, and on interim payments under the 2008 Undertaking — is part of the standard final settlement run.

What happens if I lodge the claim too late?

An RAF claim lodged outside the two-year prescription period (from the date of the accident under the Prescription Act 68 of 1969) is treated as prescribed and unenforceable unless condonation is granted. Lodgement is therefore a hard cut-off — claims should be lodged as soon as possible after the accident.

Can I get a partial payment from the RAF while the rest of the claim is still being resolved?

Yes. The RAF’s 2008 Undertaking allows interim payments from the Fund’s own resources in appropriate cases, and most long-running matters invoke that mechanism at some point — it is the standard cash-flow bridge while quantum negotiations continue.