English
Partner, Serious Injury Solicitor
This article was updated on 5 October 2022.
If you’ve lost a family member or friend in an accident - whether it was at work, in a public place, or a result of a road accident - starting a claim for compensation is not likely to be the first thing on your mind. You may understandably feel overwhelmed by the thought of going through the claims process while you’re grieving but making a claim can provide financial security to those who are left behind.
In some cases, people who provided the main family income may not have had preparations in place to provide for their loved ones. When this is due to someone else’s negligence, we can seek to get justice.
We understand that making a fatal accident claim can add extra stress at what’s already a very difficult time, but we’ll handle your claim sensitively and help you throughout the whole process.
A compensation settlement can help you cover immediate expenses such as funeral costs and general living expenses if you were financially dependent on the person who has died.
You can claim either on behalf of the deceased person’s Estate or by making a fatal accident dependency claim. Our Personal Injury Solicitors can talk you through your various options, to help you achieve the best outcome.
For free legal, advice get in touch with our friendly and experienced Personal Injury Solicitors.
We're rated‘Excellent’If you were part of the same household as the person who has died, and they made a significant contribution to your joint earnings, you might have worries about how you’ll make ends meet. This can be incredibly stressful at a time when you’re grieving.
If you’re finding yourself under financial pressure, you could make a claim under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976. This will ensure you and your family get the extra financial support you need following the sudden loss of a loved one.
Under the Fatal Accidents Act, you can claim for:
You can also claim for the pain and suffering a loved one had to experience from the time of the accident until they died if they didn't die instantly in the accident.
4.5 out of 5 based off 2587 reviewsThose who weren’t financially reliant on the person who died can often be overlooked following a fatal accident. But it may be the case that the person’s death still has a huge short-term financial impact, even if you weren’t married, in a civil partnership or the deceased person’s child.
For instance, you may have been cohabiting with them and find yourself responsible for arranging their funeral. When in this situation, the costs can soon start to mount up, from the cost of the funeral itself, to flowers, a gravestone and arranging food and a venue for a wake.
You may therefore be able to request compensation on behalf of their Estate, so you get the additional financial support you need.
The amount of compensation you receive depends on the nature of your relationship with the deceased person. So if the claim is being made by a surviving husband or wife, a compensation settlement will be calculated by assessing the couple’s joint income and subtracting the contribution that would have been made by the person who died.
If the claim concerns children, the compensation sum is likely to be higher, as a larger share of the deceased person income will be spent on the family rather than individuals. A fatal accident compensation will also consider any investments made by the deceased and interest on their earnings across a normal life expectancy.
The non-financial consequences of the loss of a loved one, as described above, will then be factored into the settlement, and a sum calculated to cover all these factors.
We can often deal with fatal accident claims on a No Win, No Fee basis, so you won’t need to worry about paying anything if your claim isn’t successful.
If you have immediate financial pressures, such as funeral expenses, as a result of the loss of your loved one, and you can’t wait for a final settlement to be agreed, we can push to secure Interim Payments before a Court Hearing.
Not necessarily. A fatal accident compensation settlement will usually be offered before the actual Court date, and we’ll negotiate with the other party on your behalf to ensure you receive a fair amount of compensation. If a settlement isn’t offered, we’ll take your civil claim to the Courts and present your case to a Judge.
For more information that’s tailored to your situation, get in touch with our expert Personal Injury Solicitors.
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