Fatal Injury Compensation Calculator

A claim could be made by the deceased’s estate for the deceased’s general and special damages. Special damages are for any financial losses the deceased’s fatal injuries caused them to experience, such as private medical care. General damages are for the pain and suffering of the deceased’s fatal injuries.

When general damages are being calculated, the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This document provides a list of guideline compensation brackets for various physical and psychological injuries.

Below, we have compiled an excerpt using some figures from the JCG, except for the first entry.

Compensation Award Guidelines

Injury	Notes	Compensation Guidelines
Fatality Plus Add-On Claims	Compensation made reflects the deceased’s pain and suffering, dependency payments and financial losses.	Up to £550,000 and over.
Paralysis - Tetraplegia/Quadriplegia	The higher end of this bracket applies to cases where the person suffers physical pain, and where the senses or ability to communicate have been impacted.	£396,140 to £493,000
Paralysis - Paraplegia	In this bracket certain factors such as the age of the person, their life expectancy and degree of pain suffered will dictate the final amount awarded.	£267,340 to £346,890
Brain Damage - Very Severe	Cases where there is no meaningful response to environmental stimuli and the person is completely (and permanently) dependant on others for all needs.	£344,150 to £493,000
Injuries Resulting in Death - Full Awareness	Cases of full awareness for a short period of time before the person falls into unconsciousness and dies within a few weeks to 3 months thereafter.	£15,300 to £29,060

Can You Claim For Funeral Costs After A Fatal Accident?

Other forms of compensation that could be awarded in fatal injury compensation claims include:

Funeral costs and the expense of a service or wake.
Loss of services – This reflects the assistance that the deceased gave for DIY and childcare needs at home. These amounts need to be quantified by a solicitor and can include both past and predicted future costs.
Loss of consortium (otherwise known as loss of a special person) – Amounts can apply here for the loss of companionship and other impacts on the family unit as a whole.
Dependency – This refers to the loss of the deceased’s past and future earnings that impact the family’s income.

We invite you to speak to our dedicated advisors for help with claiming other expenses after a bereavement. The team can assess the strength of your claim and possibly connect you to a skilled solicitor from our panel to handle your claim.

Who Can Claim Fatal Injury Compensation?

The Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934 states that the deceased’s estate is able to start a claim for the pain and suffering of the deceased and their special damages. They are the only party that can make this type of claim.

Additionally, they are the only party that can make a claim within the first six months of the death. This also includes a claim on behalf of the dependents.

Under the Fatal Accidents Act, 1976 (FAA) certain qualifying relatives are also able to claim for the emotional and financial impact that the death has had on them., provided that the estate hasn’t already made this claim for them within the first six months.

Relatives that qualify as a dependent under the FAA include:

A wife, husband or civil partner (either current or former).
Someone who lived with the deceased as a spouse for 24 months before their death.
A parent or other ascendant of the deceased.
Anyone treated as if they were their parent (a step-parent for example).
A child or other descendant of the deceased.
Anyone treated as their child based on a relation through marriage or civil partnership at any time (this includes not just current stepchildren, but stepchildren from a previous marriage or civil partnership if they were still regarded as a child of the deceased.)
The brother, sister, uncle or aunt of the deceased (or any of their children).

To see if you can start a fatal injury compensation claim, contact our advisors on the contact options above.

What Is The Bereavement Award?

Under the FAA, certain relatives also qualify to receive a Bereavement Award. This is set out as a lump sum of £15,120. It can be awarded to the following relatives and is split amongst all the people who claim it:

A husband, wife or civil partner.
Someone who lived with the deceased as husband and wife for 24 months before they passed away.
The parents of the deceased if they were an unmarried minor.
Or, the mother of the deceased if the person was an unmarried minor born outside of wedlock.

To see whether you may qualify for the bereavement award, you can contact our advisors.

What Types Of Fatal Accidents Could You Claim For?

In order for a fatal injury compensation claim to be valid, it will need to meet the following requirements:

The deceased was owed a duty of care at the time and place of their fatal accident.
This duty of care was breached.
Because of this breach, the deceased was fatally harmed.

We now look at the duty of care that applies in different areas and give examples of how it could be breached in a way that causes a fatality:

Road Traffic Accidents

All road users owe a duty of care to each other to avoid causing harm or damage. They must comply with the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code’s rules and obligations to fully meet this duty of care. On the roads, there are numerous ways that the duty of care might be breached in a way that causes a fatality:

A motorist could operate their vehicle whilst under the influence of alcohol and collide in a head-on collision, causing accidental death to the other motorist.
Someone speeding above the legal limit could hit a pedestrian at a crossing because they failed to stop in time.

Accidents At Work

Employers owe their workers a duty of care as detailed in the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HASAWA). Failure to take reasonable and steps to help stop employees from experiencing harm might cause fatalities in the following ways:

An employer can fail to plan work at a height on a construction site properly and this causes an employee to fall and suffer a fatality.
The company may neglect to check heavy workplace machinery for safety regularly and it malfunctions, causing electric shock and killing an employee in the process.

Accidents in a Public Place

A duty of care applies in public places. Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, the party in charge of an area accessible to the general public must take necessary actions to put in place measures that will prevent the public from suffering harm and ensure their reasonable safety. If they fail to do so, a fatal injury could be suffered. For example:

The operator of a leisure centre failed to repair a faulty railing on the upper floor, causing someone to fall to their death when they leaned against the railing, and it broke.
An unavoidable hazard, such as open, deep water in a public park, was not signposted, causing someone to fall in and drown.

Medical Negligence

A duty of care is automatically applied to anyone who seeks medical attention. This means that all healthcare professionals must meet the minimum standard of care when treating their patients.

If a medical professional were to fail to meet their duty of care, this could lead to someone being fatally harmed. For example:

If a surgeon operated on the person and made an error, such as puncturing a vital organ, which caused a fatality that would have been otherwise avoidable.
A practitioner failed to spot that breast cancer had spread in their patient, and this misdiagnosis led to the condition becoming terminal for the patient.

Contact our advisors today to see how we could help you with making a claim for fatal injury compensation.

How Long Do You Have To Claim Fatal Accident Compensation?

There are time limits that apply to fatal accident claims. It is generally 3-years. This 3 years can either run from:

The date of the deceased’s death.
The date of knowledge. This can be formed from the date of an inquest or postmortem.

One of our advisors could inform you whether you are still within the time limit to begin a fatal accident claim. Contact them today.

What Is An Inquest?

After a fatal accident, a Coroner’s Inquest into the death could be ordered. This establishes how the person was fatally injured in cases where the cause is not always clear. The report created by an inquest could be useful as part of evidence in a fatal accident claim. However, a coroner cannot ascertain liability.

For more information on how the findings of an Inquest could help support a fatal injury compensation claim, you can contact our advisors.

What Evidence Could Help You Claim For A Fatal Accident?

It is important to present evidence that can prove what fatal injuries the deceased suffered and who was liable for them. Some examples of evidence that could prove useful in fatal injury compensation claims include:

Any CCTV footage from the area that captured the accident.
Dashcam and helmet cam footage that caught any road traffic accident.
Photos of the scene of the accident.
The contact information for any eyewitnesses. Should you decide to use the services of a to help you start a fatal accident claim, they can obtain a supporting statement from these people at a later date.
A copy from any on-site accident book.
Copies of the deceased’s medical records detailing their fatal injuries.
The findings of an inquest.

Another action may be to seek legal guidance for your fatal accident claim. See if the solicitors on our panel can help by contacting one of our advisors today.

Claim Fatal Accident Compensation On A No Win No Fee Basis

The fatal injury compensation claims process may seem daunting, but you do not have to face it alone. One of the solicitors on our panel could help you through this process as either the estate or a dependent. Additionally, they may offer their services to you under a No Win No Fee agreement. The specific arrangement our panel of solicitors offer is a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Some of the advantages that come with claiming under a CFA include:

No upfront solicitor’s fees are needed to start work on the claim.
No service fees apply as the claim moves forward.
Solicitor’s fees don’t apply for completed work on the fatal accident claim if it fails.
If the claim has a successful outcome, a small amount is deducted from the compensation. This percentage is known as a success fee. However, the amount is subject to a legal limit.

To learn more about how one of the solicitors on our panel could help assist with a fatal accident claim, you can contact our advisors:

Call on 0800 408 7826
Contact us online to request a callback.
Use the live chat.

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