Practical Advice
Practical Advice on a Fatal Accident Case
1 Investigate all losses, including pension entitlements, benefits and lost earnings.
2 Attend any inquest
3 All dependants must be included and come forward to claim a fatal accident award
4 Assess if the deceased left a will. You need to find out whether the PRs have been appointed. PRs will bring actions on behalf of the estate and dependant together.
5 If administrators are appointed, your solicitors in a fatal accident case need to wait until the letters of administration are approved. An action commenced before this is a nullity
6 Cost of attending the inquest and obtaining the grant of probate or letters of administration are recoverable from the defendant in a fatal accident case.
7 A dependant may bring an action if there is no PR or if the PR does not bring an action within 6 months (Fatal Accident Act s 2(2))
Apportionment of damages with the dependants following a fatal accident, can be done by agreement between them, unless there are dependant children under 18 when court approval will be needed. Apportionment to children will be governed by the level of maintenance costs required and providing a lump sum for the child at the age of 18. It may be necessary to protect the children by seeking a higher apportionment than is usually the case.
Free Advice Available
As specialist fatal accident solicitors we can work for free win or lose so you have nothing to worry about. There is a limited time to make a claim so we make it easy for you to contact us. You can fill on our online form, call us free of charge on 0800 083 0626 or alternatively we operate a secure confidential live chat facility (see top right hand of this web site) that you can also use should you feel more comfortable.
