Welcome to our fatal accident claims guide, providing a nutshell of what can be claimed without using complex legal jargon. Our guide is a simplified overview of the compensation claims process to help you better understand the process and start working towards a successful claim.
As we are specialist solicitors in this area, please contact us to find out more about making a claim.
Who Can Make a Fatal Accident Claim?
The main people who can make a fatal accident claim on behalf of the deceased are generally the wife or husband of the deceased and the deceased’s dependent children. Dependent children are usually below the age of 18 or 21 years (during their education).
The word “dependent” means financial reliance, which can be in terms of money or monetary value. For example, if a dependent was living in the deceased’s property ‘rent-free’, a claim would be possible. However, the number of dependents can be wide and not limited to the immediate family. In most fatal accident compensation claims brought by solicitors on behalf of the dependants, the claim is usually brought by the deceased’s next of kin, that is, close family such as widow/widower, children of the deceased, grandparents, brother/sister.
Due to a change in the law, under s. Section 83 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 now includes the deceased’s civil partner as a dependant. In addition, if a partner was living with the deceased for at least 2 years prior to death, the living partner can also become a dependant under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976.
Dependants are fixed at the date of death, but a dependant can be a matter of fiction and is entitled to claim. Therefore, a dependant can be an unborn child at the date of death. It can also be a child that has not yet been born. Thus, if there is evidence that the deceased would have intended to start a family, then a possible claim can be made on behalf of that “fictitious” child.
What Does Estate Mean?
In layperson’s terms, the estate comprises the deceased’s assets and liabilities, accrued at death and may continue after death. This can include the value of any house, money in the bank, shares, bonds, investments, and life insurance policies, less any liabilities the deceased owed at the time of death, such as bank loans and mortgages. Thus, any compensation for a fatal accident claim will therefore form part of the deceased’s estate like an asset.
In most claims, the person(s) entitled to the deceased’s estate are usually the dependants, but not always. Therefore, a fatal accident claim may give rise to one person being entitled to all the compensation, an obvious example is the widow who can claim as a dependant and also as the person entitled under her late husband’s estate.
What Can Be Claimed?
The deceased’s estate can claim compensation for the deceased’s pain and suffering between the injury and death. Fatal accident compensation can include the deceased’s suffering caused by his/her awareness of reduced life expectancy, or if the deceased was unconscious before death, although pain or suffering occurred.
The latter claim for financial support and services is usually the primary aspect. A typical example of a financial dependency claim is where, for example, the main caregiver for the family has died, and as a result, little or no income is now being brought into the household. The dependents of the household left behind have been financially supported by the deceased; therefore, the loss to the family is the net wages the deceased was earning prior to death, plus any other income or services of financial value.
The typical example used here is where the spouse or partner left behind, and any children, will have a past, present, and future loss of financial claim to what they would have received had the deceased still been living. As fatal accident compensation solicitors, we will apportion the wages between the dependents, with the spouse or partner usually receiving more of the compensation than any children.
The dependent spouse may well have a future dependency claim until retirement age (which can be substantial if the deceased was young), but any children’s claim may well be reduced to 18 years or 21 years unless there is evidence that the dependency could be greater.
The following is a summary of the compensation that can be claimed following a fatal accident:
- Pain and suffering of the deceased (if any at the time)
- Funeral expenses
- Bereavement award
- Dependency loss
- Losses incurred between the fatal accident and death
- Loss of earnings
- Medical expenses
- Travel expenses
- Loss of pension entitlements
- Damage to clothing and property
- All other reasonable losses and expenses
The Law Can Be Injust
The court will not award any compensation to the estate if death was instantaneous (technically, there is no pain and suffering). This is difficult to explain to grieving dependants, as clearly there must have been some pain and suffering that had caused death.
“The law that deals with fatal accident compensation clearly gets in the way of justice in our respectful view.”
Similarly, if the deceased was in a coma before death, there is no claim for pain and suffering. In the tragic case of Hicks (one of the Hillsborough Cases), the medical evidence brought to court was that both girls died of traumatic asphyxia in the crush and would have fallen unconscious within seconds and died within minutes. The claim for compensation was rejected.
It is with regret that the law governing fatal accident compensation claims does not tend to favour dependent claimants and is often harsh. The law governing fatal accident compensation clearly gets in the way of justice, in our respectful view.
Get Help From Specialist Solicitors
We hope this fatal accident claims guide has helped you get to grips with the basics. We are here to help you every step of the way to make a fatal accident compensation claim. Sympathetic advice and support are paramount in addition to maximum compensation.
Contact us, and we will be glad to hear from you. We provide a No Win, No Fee, No Worry service, and even if we succeed in claiming fatal accident compensation, you still have the ability to keep 100% of the compensation. Many solicitors are now charging up to 25% of your compensation if you win. That can add up to a significant sum to pay your fatal accident solicitors. That money is better spent on you and the family than on solicitors’ fees.
We trust this fatal accident compensation guide has been useful. It is important that you do instruct us for specific advice and assistance.
Please contact us if you have any questions, whether you are a dependant, close family member or even a friend who is worried about the bereaved family and wants to help. We will always be here to help you under our No Win, No Fee, Solicitor Service.
