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Fatal Car Crash – Car Fails to Stop Causing Death

A young girl just 15 years was killed in a tragic road traffic collision.  She was a passenger in a vehicle when it is reported on the BBC website/fatal car crash that the police signalled to the driver of the vehicle to pull over.

The young girl died when the car crashed into a shop after it failed to stop when asked to do so by the Police.

The BBC website reports that

‘Police officers had signalled for the car to pull over before it hit a building.’

A man was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries. A third person is being sought by police.

An eyewitness who saw last night’s car crash has told the BBC a third person escaped the car from the boot and was pursued by the police.

It is thought the car went the wrong way up a one-way street before hitting a bollard and crashing.

Advice for Families Who Lose A Loved One

The death of a child in a fatal road traffic accident is a personal tragedy for all concerned. It is incomprehensible that a child should die before his or her parents but regrettably such incidents are a common occurrence.

As fatal accident solicitors we act for many parents who have lost a child in a fatal road accident.  The child will usually be a passenger in a motor vehicle driven by a young driver (usually a friend) of teenage years or early 20s.

There is often total devastation for all concerned even by the driver who, if he or she survives the fatal road accident which has claimed the life of a friend will often has severe regret and depression.

The fatal accident solicitors are here to help parents and victims of fatal road traffic accidents to help with the investigations of fault and blame and obtain justice.  In addition to claiming back fatal road accident compensation such as funeral expenses, loss of income past, present and future.  We shall also deal with all of the legal paper-work that often arises following such tragic events.

Contact the fatal injury claim solicitors now, no matter how small the query even if you are a concerned friend or family member of someone you know has tragical lost their life in a road accident.

Knowledge of Loss of Life = £0

The Courts are ‘chipping away’ at the injustice of compensation awards following a fatal accident claim where a person or shall we put it in a more personal way, your Spouse, Partner, Child, Mother, Father, Brother or Sister is unlawfully killed at work or in a road traffic accident for instance.

The case of Kaidir v Mistry decided in 2014 by the Court of Appeal, the second senior court in England and Wales, no less.  In this tragic case a the Claimant’s case was founded on the negligent late diagnosis of stomach cancer.  She was only 32 years of age with 4 young children.  The cancer was terminal and even if spotted in time, it would not have prevented her from dying.

Fatal accident claims - sitting on hill

Spotted Cancer In Time – She Would Have Lived for About 2 Years Longer

The evidence in the case was that had the correct treatment been underway at the right time, she would have underwent extensive intrusive treatment, in other words pain and suffering.

Therefore the fatal accident claim solicitors in this case tried to claim compensation for her and her family for her suffering due to the late diagnosis.  However the Defendant insurance company solicitors argued successfully that she would have experienced pain and suffering in any event due to her terminal cancer.

The Court of Appeal agreed with the Defendant Insurance legal advisers.  It will take into account any pain and suffering she was would have suffered without the Defendant’s negligence. The pain and suffering was no different in a fatal accident claim than where a person sustained injury that is not life-threatening, the Judges rejecting a “conceptually different’ argument put forward by the deceased Claimant solicitors.

So What Can Be Claimed – Life is Worth £Nothing In England & Wales?

Well here, Court of Appeal has stated that the Government has prevented any compensation to the unlawful killing to the deceased if the deceased did not die immediately but at a later time, say weeks or months later.

Here if the deceased was aware that the fatal injury would curtain his or her life, not matter how upset that may be, NO FATAL INJURY COMPENSATION is payable thanks to Government Law found under the Administration of Justice Act 1982 (the 1982 Act)

‘THE LAW IS UNJUST, UNFAIR

AND MUST BE CHANGED.

The Act does have an exemption as referred to by Lord Justice Laws, where he said:-

“if the injured person’s expectation of life has been reduced by the injuries, the court, in assessing damages in respect of pain and suffering caused by the injuries, shall take account of any suffering caused or likely to be caused to him by awareness that his expectation of life has been so reduced.”

In this case the Court, as the fatal accident solicitors have said earlier in this Article, the Court’s are ‘chipping away’ at a unfair legal precedent that stops bereaved families being compensated fairly.  Here the Judge advised that the claimant did suffer by her awareness that her life was cut horribly short.  She had four young children.  The Defendant insurance company tried to stop an award but they lost.

The Judge found that for her ‘mental anguish’ of knowing her life was cut short in her prime at the age of only 32 years and with 4 young children awarded what is considered an nominal amount but a step forward.  The Courts awarded the grand sum of £3,500.  Yes just:

“THREE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS”

Such a petty amount anyone who is aware their life will be cut short by some 40 years or more.  Compare this to Celebrities who have been awarded six figure sums for ‘hurt feelings.’  It is unjust.  Please help change the law so that a bereavement award can compensation families who have lost a loved one.

The Fatal Accidents Act 1976 does not help and neither does the The Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934

Contact the Fatal Accident Claims Solicitors

Please if your family or you know someone who needs advice or assistance please contact the fatal accident compensation solicitors for specialist advise and help under our no win no fee solicitors service.

 

How Solicitors Calculate Future Compensation After Death (Part 1)

Generally it is relatively easy to calculate the compensation awards to dependants of the deceased prior to trial or settlement of the claim.  This is because what has happened in the past can be evaluated with precision.  There is no assumptions or what ifs?

Some complex calculations for fatal accident compensation which arise when the claims comes to be settled can give rise to uncertainty.

Some examples where uncertainly will arise and difficult questions have to be determined by the Courts and the solicitors acting in the compensation claim for a fatal accident:

  • The deceased had recently started his own business (so there is no past record on how well the business would have done).
  • The deceased was only 16 years old so there is little work experience or examination results to establish a clear future career path.
  • The deceased was destined to be a sporting great…but for the fatal accident.

There are many other examples where a future calculation for possible fatal accident compensation awards can give rise to difficult assessments and calculations.  The fatal accident compensation solicitor will have to consider all the evidence and present the best possible case to the Courts.  Once this evidence has been produced the Solicitors dealing with the fatal injury claim will then use what is called ‘The Ogden Tables‘ to consider the future calculation of compensation awarded.

Calculation of Future Fatal Accident Compensation – Ogden Tables

The Ogden Tables are designed not by solicitors as such but by accountants or actuaries who use various data such as age, discounts rates, life tables etc to establish how much a lump sum compensation award for a fatal accident would be worth if the dependent a received all the money ‘today’ at once rather than over a period of years had the deceased lived.  This is important as the dependants of the deceased should not be ‘over-compensated’ and importantly ‘under-compensated.’

So if, say, the dependants of the deceased had a future award of compensation for a fatal accident of a loved one assessed at £100,000 and that amount is the equivalent of say 10 years future award.  If the dependant received £100,000 today rather than over a period of 10 years, the law of compensation (the Defendant insurance company) would be up in arms as the dependants would have been over-compensated.  Why?  Fatal accident solicitors call this ‘accelerated payment’ the dependants have received all the money in advance in one lump sum rather than over the 10 year period.  Therefore that £100,000 could be invested in stock and shares or put in a bank account gaining interest and any investment returns would result in an additional award to the dependants which is prohibited i.e. the dependants have been over-compensated.

Therefore what the courts will do is apply a discount to the compensation so that the dependants are not over-compensated.  Therefore rather than receive £100,000 today, the compensation will be reduced by a complex calculation so that the award may be £95,000 or £90,000 and so on.  The longer the award in years terms into the future, the greater the compensation discount.

The actual scheme and philosophy of making dependants of the deceased who receive compensation for a fatal accident claim has been under attack by many fatal accident solicitors and personal injury practitioners well before the stock-market crash of 2007.  This is because the dependants or the injured victim is forced to invest the compensation in stock and shares or if the dependants or injured victim are more risk adverse, to keep the compensation in a bank account.

However, as all savers are aware, the interest on bank accounts are quite pitiful and in some cases we here are of negative benefit. The compensation award is there for a purpose and should not be put at risk in stocks and shares. Further the discount applied to the future awards are still very high meaning that in real terms the compensation for fatal accident claims and personal injury claims are consistently over many years under valued.  The fault of the to Government once again slow to react help victims but quick to protect insurance companies.

See Also:

Fatal Accident Compensation – Calculate Future Awards (Part 1)

Fatal Accident Compensation – Calculate Future Awards (Part 2)

Fatal Accident Compensation – Calculate Future Awards (Part 3)