Fatal Accident Claims : Am I a Dependent and Can I Claim?

Where there has been a fatal accident a dependant may be able to make a claim on behalf of the deceased. So it is important to consider who might qualify as a dependant.

For someone to make a claim they have to pass two tests. They must:

1)      Qualify as a dependant as defined by statute and;

2)      Have had a reasonable expectation of financial benefit from the deceased.

The defining statute on this matter is the Fatal Accidents Act 1976. Section 3 of the Act gives a quite substantial list of people who qualify as a dependent. They are as follows:

(a)the wife or husband or former wife or husband of the deceased;

(aa) the civil partner or former civil partner of the deceased;

(b) any person who-

(i) was living with the deceased in the same household immediately before the date of the death; and
(ii) had been living with the deceased in the same household for at least two years before that date; and
(iii) was living during the whole of that period as the husband or wife or civil partner of the deceased;

(c) any parent or other ascendant of the deceased;(d) any person who was treated by the deceased as his parent;
(e) any child or other descendant of the deceased;
(f) any person (not being a child of the deceased) who, in the case of any marriage
to which the deceased was at any time a party, was treated by the deceased as a child of the family in relation to that marriage;

(fa) any person (not being a child of the deceased) who, in the case of any civil partnership
in which the deceased was at any time a civil partner, was treated by the deceased as a child of the family in relation to that civil partnership;
(g) any person who is, or is the issue of, a brother, sister, uncle or aunt of the deceased.

If somebody falls within the definition of this statute then secondarily they have to show that they have suffered financial loss as a result of the bereavement. This is also quite a broad qualifying category and is summed up best by the position in Davies v Powell Duffryn Associated Collieries Ltd where it was stated that it was ‘A matter of pounds shillings and pence, subject to the element of reasonable future probabilities.’

This loss can encompass loss of income (including prospect of earned income), loss of gratuitous services provided by the deceased, loss of fringe benefits (such as company car, air miles etc), loss of anticipated gifts, losses incurred because of the death and all should be brought into consideration