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ACAA compensation: lost income, death and dismemberment

Last reviewed: August 13, 2026 — VerifiedACAA

In short

Many people leave a traffic accident knowing ACAA covers the doctor and never learning the rest. ACAA also offers disability compensation to injured people who, as a result of the accident, suffer a loss of income: the benefit is equivalent to 50% of the weekly salary the injured person was receiving before the accident. It also pays death compensation to dependents, dismemberment and loss of vision compensation, and funeral expenses. The amounts for those last three depend on which of the three coverages — basic, Plus or Premium — the vehicle held at the time of the accident.

External link

Go to the official site

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www.acaa.pr.gov

What is it?

Beyond medical and hospital services, ACAA pays cash compensation. It lists four: disability compensation, death compensation, dismemberment and loss of vision compensation, and funeral expense compensation. Disability compensation answers the most practical question after a serious accident — what do I live on while I cannot work — and ACAA defines it as a benefit equivalent to 50% of the weekly salary the injured person was receiving before the accident. Death, dismemberment and funeral compensation are tabulated by coverage.

Who can do it?

ACAA offers disability compensation to injured people who, as a result of a traffic accident, suffer a loss of income. Death compensation goes to the dependents of a victim who dies from a motor vehicle accident, and ACAA tabulates it by type of dependent: spouse, disabled child, children by age bracket, and students aged 18 to 21. All of this presumes the claim was filed and that none of the exclusions in Act 111-2020 apply. ACAA does not publish the specific requirements for requesting each compensation separately, so confirm them at your regional office.

Requirements

Documents you need

This list describes what is usually requested. It has not yet been confirmed with the official agency.

Cost

Check the current cost with the official agency.

Step by step

  1. Step 1: First, the claim

    None of this activates by itself. Compensation comes after having filed the claim at an ACAA regional office within fifteen calendar days of the accident, and after notifying the Police within the first four hours. If that is not done, that is the step, not this one.

  2. Step 2: If you cannot work, ask about disability compensation

    It is the one almost nobody asks for, because almost nobody knows it exists. ACAA describes it thus: it offers disability compensation to injured people who as a result of a traffic accident suffer a loss of income, and the benefit is equivalent to 50% of the weekly salary the injured person was receiving before the accident. Come to your regional office with evidence of what you earned before the accident and with the medical documentation showing you cannot work.

  3. Step 3: If there was a death, compensation depends on the coverage

    ACAA tabulates death compensation by dependent and by the coverage the vehicle held. A spouse receives $10,000 under the basic coverage, $75,000 under Plus and $92,000 under Premium. Children are tabulated by age bracket, and students aged 18 to 21 have their own line. Funeral expenses range from $1,000 under the basic coverage to $8,000 under Premium. The full figures are in the coverages guide.

  4. Step 4: Dismemberment and loss of vision

    ACAA lists it as a separate compensation. The cap depends on the coverage: up to $10,000 under the basic one, up to $75,000 under Plus and up to $100,000 under Premium. ACAA does not publish how it is graded within that cap, so that part is asked at the regional office.

  5. Step 5: If the case is catastrophic, ask about the extended coverage

    ACAA states it has an extended coverage for cases of paraplegia, quadriplegia, severe trauma or multiple fractures, when so determined by a Medical Committee created by the Corporation. It is a different channel from the ordinary two years of services and it has to be requested.

Where to do it

At the ACAA regional office where you filed the claim. ACAA has ten: Aguadilla, Arecibo, Bayamón, Caguas, Carolina, Centro Médico, Humacao, Mayagüez, Ponce and San Juan; addresses are looked up in the selector on acaa.pr.gov. General phone: (787) 759-8989. Head office: 249 Arterial Hostos, San Juan, P.R. 00918-1849.

How long it takes

Check the current processing time with the official agency.

What to do if something goes wrong

ACAA does not publish how long disability payments last, whether there is a waiting period, whether there is a weekly cap or minimum, or how someone who was self-employed or unemployed at the time of the accident is treated. This guide invents none of those answers: they are asked at the regional office. Nor does it publish how each compensation is requested as a step separate from the claim. If the accident happened while you were working, another agency is in play — the State Insurance Fund Corporation — and the relationship between the two is not published by ACAA, so declare to both and let them determine. If your disability comes not from a traffic accident but from an illness or an accident outside work, ACAA is not the route. If the vehicle’s registration was expired, there was no current driver’s licence, or any other exclusion in Act 111-2020 applies, there is no coverage and therefore no compensation. PRFácil does not process compensation, does not represent injured people, and gives no legal or medical advice.

Common mistakes

  • Not knowing ACAA compensates lost income and settling for medical care alone.
  • Expecting full salary: ACAA describes the benefit as equivalent to 50% of the weekly salary before the accident.
  • Assuming death compensation is the same for everyone: it is tabulated by dependent and by coverage.
  • Forgetting that the coverage that applies is the one the vehicle held at the time of the accident, not the one you hold today.
  • Not asking about the extended coverage in cases of paraplegia, quadriplegia, severe trauma or multiple fractures.
  • Failing to file the claim within fifteen days and losing every compensation along with it.

Frequently asked questions

Does ACAA pay me if I cannot work because of the accident?

ACAA offers disability compensation to injured people who as a result of a traffic accident suffer a loss of income, and describes the benefit as equivalent to 50% of the weekly salary the injured person was receiving before the accident. How long that payment lasts is not published; ask at your regional office.

A relative died in an accident. What does ACAA compensate?

Compensation to dependents and funeral expenses. The amounts depend on the coverage the vehicle held: a spouse receives $10,000 under the basic coverage, $75,000 under Plus and $92,000 under Premium, and funeral expenses range from $1,000 to $8,000 depending on the coverage. Children are tabulated by age bracket.

I crashed while driving for work. ACAA or the State Insurance Fund?

Both agencies exist and cover different things: ACAA covers traffic accident injuries and the State Insurance Fund Corporation covers occupational injuries. ACAA does not publish how they relate in a case that is both at once, so the prudent step is to declare it to both and let each determine, without letting either one’s deadlines lapse.

Official sources

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

Last verified

August 13, 2026

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