Fatal Accident Claims and Compensation Assessment in the UK

Fatal accident claims arising from the avoidable death of a loved one as a result of negligence can be difficult to comprehend and to cope with, both emotionally and financially. A solicitor needs not only to deal with the bereaved in a sensitive and approachable manner but to be expert in understanding what damages can be claimed so as to be able to maximise the size of the settlement.

Under the Law Reform Act 1934, the cost of the deceased's care and/or the deceased's lost earnings prior to death can be re-claimed from the negligent party's insurers, as can their reasonable funeral costs, including the cost of a headstone.

Compensation is also awarded for their pain and suffering from the date of their accident, or date of their negligent medical treatment, or date of the development of the symptoms of their disease,up until the date of their death. The amount varies according to both the length of the period and the amount of pain. At the top end of the range of award, for example, would be an award of £75k for four years of great pain and suffering due to mesothelioma before death.

A bereavement award of £11, 800 is awarded under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 but only for the deceased's spouse or the parents of deceased children under 18. It follows that if the deceased was over 18, and not married, then no bereavement payment can be made. Many bereaved relatives are disbelieving when told this but this is unfortunately the case, despite the efforts of the Law Society over many years to change the law.

In contrast "dependants" under the Fatal Accidents Act are more widely defined to include just about anybody that is dependent. It can include parents, grandparents, children, spouses and ex-spouses. However, a common law spouse must have been living with the deceased for two years prior to their death.

The "dependency claim award" in a fatal accident claim is usually substantial and the lion's share of the whole claim. In general terms its calculation is explained below.

The net annual financial loss to the dependants of the earnings the deceased would have earned, and/or the services the deceased would have provided for them, such as DIY, housework or childcare, is known as the multiplicand.

Often a care expert's report is obtained to value the care and/or the services multiplicand.

The dependency multiplicand as far as lost future of earnings is based on an approach that where there is a husband and wife and the wife did not work, and the husband is killed, then the wife's dependency will probably be in the region of 66 per cent of the joint income because the deceased would have spent the balance on himself. If there is joint income then the dependency is 66% of the total joint net income and you deduct from that the continuing earnings to calculate the loss of dependency. If there are children, then there is a dependency of 75%.

Assuming the deceased had no particular pre-accident health problems that would have reduced his or her life expectancy, then to work out the multiplier with which to multiply the multiplicand, so as to work out losses in future years, you look at the particular Ogden Table, the government's Actuary tables, for the particular type of loss. For example there are different tables for loss of earnings to either 60 or 65, and within these alternative retiring dates further different tables for males and females.

You then find the right multiplier in the table by looking at the deceased's age at date of death, cross referenced with a discount rate of 2.5 %.This gives you a multiplier incorporating both the risk of mortality of the deceased if he had not died in the index fatal accident, and a discount for accelerated receipt of future losses such as earnings. The multiplier for loss of earnings is then discounted a little bit more for the risk of unemployment of the deceased, by multiplying it by another fraction.

The multiplier will also vary with the age and health of the dependants. A particular example is that a multiplier for children will usually only cover the child's presumed period of dependency. This will be up to age 18 unless they are in continuing education.