Non-invalidating permanent injuries: the INSS scale compensation

It is any definitive injury, mutilation or deformity caused by a workplace accident or occupational disease that, without constituting permanent incapacity, involves a decrease or alteration of the worker's physical integrity and is included in the official scale. This is how it is defined in article 201 of the Ley General de la Seguridad Social (the Spanish General Social Security Act, LGSS).

To receive the compensation, 4 conditions must be met: the sequel must come from a professional contingency (never a non-work-related accident or common illness), it must be definitive (assessed after medical discharge from temporary incapacity), it must appear on the scale, and it must not amount to permanent incapacity.

It can be requested by employees in the General Regime and those in regimes that protect professional contingencies, including an autónomo (self-employed worker) who has these contingencies covered. A minimum contribution period is not required: no qualifying period is demanded for workplace accidents and occupational diseases.

If you are self-employed, there is also a general requirement that should not be overlooked: you must be up to date with the payment of your Seguridad Social contributions at the time of the causative event (article 47 LGSS). If you have arrears, it is advisable to regularise them before requesting the compensation.

Typical examples from the scale include the loss of phalanges or fingers, decreased visual acuity, hypoacusis (hearing loss), deformation of the nasal septum, loss of cranial bone substance, and scars causing aesthetic damage.

The amount is not negotiated and does not depend on your salary. It is a fixed amount per injury set by the scale annexed to the Orden ISM/450/2023 of 4 May, in force in 2026. The scale includes 110 injuries grouped into 6 blocks (head and face, genital apparatus, glands and viscera, upper limbs, lower limbs, and scars), with amounts ranging from €515 to €9,512.

It is paid only once, as a single payment. If the same accident causes several injuries on the scale, each one is assessed under its own heading.

Each heading has its own medical conditions, and it is not enough to notice discomfort or a slight loss. For example, decreased visual acuity in 1 eye is only compensated if, with correction, vision does not reach 7 tenths. This is why it is so important that medical reports specify the degree of loss.

For hands and fingers, the scale sets different amounts depending on the side (right or left). For some injuries, such as scars or loss of cranial bone substance, the amount is a range, and the INSS specifies the figure according to the characteristics of the sequel.

In the following table, you have examples of current amounts extracted from the annex of the Orden ISM/450/2023 published in the BOE (the Spanish Official State Gazette).

The entity that covers the worker's professional contingencies pays, which is the same one obliged to pay permanent incapacity benefits (article 201 LGSS). In practice, if your company covers professional contingencies with a mutua (a mutual insurance company collaborating with the Seguridad Social, which is the most common), the mutua pays. If it covers them with the managing entity, the INSS pays (or the Instituto Social de la Marina in the Sea Workers' Regime).

However, the entity that declares the right is always the INSS, regardless of which entity covers the contingency (Real Decreto 1300/1995). The Equipo de Valoración de Incapacidades (Incapacity Assessment Team, EVI) examines the sequels and issues a proposed ruling, and the Provincial Directorate of the INSS issues the resolution that recognises the injury, sets the scale amount, and orders the mutua to pay.

This is important if the mutua downplays your sequels: the mutua does not have the final say. You can submit the application directly to the INSS and have the EVI assess it.

With work, it is fully compatible. Article 201 LGSS states this expressly: the compensation is received without prejudice to the worker's right to continue in the service of the company. You can stay in the same position and with the same salary, and also receive the compensation.

With permanent incapacity, it is incompatible for the same injuries. Article 203 LGSS establishes that these compensations are incompatible with the financial benefits of permanent incapacity, unless the injuries are completely independent of those taken into account to declare that incapacity and its degree.

In practice, if the same accident leaves you with a severe sequel that leads to permanent incapacity and a minor one unrelated to it (for example, hearing loss assessed for the incapacity and, separately, the loss of a phalanx), the independent injury can indeed be compensated by the scale.

The right to claim the compensation expires after 5 years (article 53 LGSS). For non-invalidating permanent injuries, the calculation is linked to the moment the sequels are consolidated as definitive, usually upon medical discharge for recovery with sequels.

5 years give you leeway, but it is not advisable to wait until the last minute. The more time passes, the harder it is to prove that the sequel comes from that accident and not from another cause. It is recommended to request it as soon as you have the discharge and the medical reports describing the injury.

Once the application is submitted, the INSS has a maximum period of 135 days to resolve it. If they do not reply within that period, the request is understood to be denied by administrative silence, and the appeals route remains open.

Requesting this compensation has no tasa (official fee): it is a free procedure before the Seguridad Social. You can see the updated price Managora charges to prepare and submit it for you on the procedure's page.

This is the most frequent conflict scenario: the mutua issues a discharge for recovery without sequels, or recognises the sequel but does not propose compensation. Do not just accept the conversation with the mutua: submit the application to the INSS so that the EVI can assess your injuries with their own doctors.

If the INSS resolution is a denial (or does not arrive within 135 days), the next step is a prior claim before the INSS itself within 30 days of notification (article 71 of Ley 36/2011, regulating social jurisdiction). If the claim is dismissed, the next step is a lawsuit before the Social Court.

Medical reports carry weight in this phase. A report that accurately describes the sequel, specifies the degree of loss required by the heading, and fits it into the correct section of the scale makes all the difference. Managora reviews your medical documentation, prepares the application with a well-founded reference to the scale, and submits the document for you. If there is a denial, we also prepare the prior claim.

If you believe you are entitled to this compensation, order the procedure on Managora's non-invalidating permanent injuries compensation page. We prepare it and submit it to the INSS on your behalf, with the service amount always visible on the page.