The wife and the mistress of a man who died in a road accident have both been awarded life insurance payouts, Italian news reports said Thursday. 

The 39-year-old man from Turin, in Italy's north-east, was married with a young son, but also had a stable relationship with another woman.

Her lawyer, Gino Arnone, told the La Stampa newspaper that he managed to convince the insurance company that the mistress also deserved compensation for her loss. 

The daily said that when the man died a year ago in a motorway accident, police called upon her to identify the body, as the victim's wife was out of town on a work trip. 

La Stampa quoted the mistress as saying that the man used to spend three days a week with her and four days with his regular family. 

The newspaper did not disclose the amount of the insurance payouts, agreed in out-of-court settlements, but spoke of "considerable sums".