Fatal accidents
Your life will be turned upside down by the sudden and unexpected death of a loved one as a result of an accident or other unanticipated event. As well as dealing with your emotional response, there will also be plenty of issues to contend with, particularly where there are formal investigations in to the cause of death.
There may be police investigations and criminal prosecution of those responsible for the death, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigations, and coroner’s investigations and inquest. At Clarke Willmott, our specialist Catastrophic Injury solicitors are experienced in dealing with fatal accident cases and will help to guide you through all of these issues, as well as advising you about your possible civil claim for damages arising out of the death.
This page is intended to be a brief synopsis of the main issues you may face. Please contact us to speak to one of our specialists in more detail about your situation.
Coroner’s Inquests
A coroner will become involved when the local registrar of births and deaths, or, more often, the police or treating doctors, report the death to the coroner's office. It's essential for a coroner to become involved when the circumstances of the death fall within specific categories. Broadly speaking, deaths which are reported to a coroner are ones where the registrar, police or doctor is not satisfied that the cause of death was natural. This is usually the case in deaths that are sudden and/or unexpected, violent or unexplained. In cases referred to the coroner's office, only the coroner can sign the death certificate. The relevant coroner is the coroner responsible for the area where the body lies.
In straight forward cases, the coroner may be satisfied as to the cause of death without formal investigation. However, unless this is the case, the first step that the coroner is likely to take is to ask a pathologist to examine the body and to provide a formal pathology report (sometimes called an autopsy report). If you are an immediate family member you ought to be informed of the date and time of the intended examination, but you do not have a right to object to it.
Unless the coroner can be satisfied about the cause and reason for death on the basis of this report, he will hold a coroner’s inquest.
The coroner is not there to establish blame for the death. A coroner’s inquest is a fact-finding exercise and will examine the questions – Who? When? Where? How? Once the coroner opens the inquest, the formal hearing is normally adjourned (postponed) until investigations have been undertaken by the coroner, including obtaining relevant witness statements or other documents. Where there is a criminal prosecution of those responsible the inquest may be adjourned until after this has taken place.
The main hearing will take place once the coroner has completed his investigations. It is a public hearing, but in most cases it will be held in front of the coroner only. The coroner should liaise with all persons with an interest in the outcome of the inquest before the hearing takes place and those individuals will be invited to attend the hearing.
There are specific categories of people who will be classified as 'interested persons'. Broadly speaking, this will include the family of the deceased, as well as the person, company or public body who may potentially be responsible for the death, or upon whose premises the death occurred. It will also include the police if there is a police investigation, and the HSE if they have been involved.
At times there may be issues of public importance or significance. This may arise from a death at work, unexpected death in hospital or in a public place. Where this sort of issue arises the coroner may hold the inquest in front of a jury.
The coroner has a discretion to release documents to the 'interested parties' prior to the hearing. This can include written statements of the witnesses who will be called to give evidence, along with information as to who will be called. Each coroner varies in their practice as far as this is concerned and some are far more amenable to disclosure than others.
If there is a coroner’s inquest in to the death of your loved one, the hearing will be of huge significance to you as it will help to explain how and why the death occurred. It may also be a huge worry to you, particularly if there is to be a jury inquest and the issues to be examined are complicated. The other people implicated in the death may be represented by lawyers and barristers and you may be feeling lost in the complicated process.
The current coroner’s inquest system has come under much criticism in recent years and proposals have been put forward for an overhaul to the system. No changes have yet been introduced but issues, including delays and the difficulties often faced by the families of the deceased, are well recognised.
Sometimes the information obtained from a coroner's inquest will be of great significance to a later civil claim for damages. We therefore advise you to contact us before the coroner's inquest to discuss any possible claim for damages, so that we can decide whether we should attend the inquest.
At Clarke Willmott we can help whether you require advice and representation at the coroner's inquest, or whether you are considering a civil claim for damages. We will advise you about what is involved and explore what funding options may be available to you for representation at the inquest.
Claims arising from fatal accidents
For individuals who were financially dependent on the deceased, especially if the death was unexpected, you may well be left with huge financial hardship. It will therefore be very important to find out whether you have a claim for financial loss. This may well be the case if someone else is held to blame for the death.
Claims arising from fatal accidents are different to other types of personal injury claim. This is because the right to bring a claim arises from statute (acts of parliament). There are three main claims which can be bought as a result of death and we will explain these broadly below:
1. The Deceased's Claim
This claim is bought by the person who is appointed as Executor of the Deceased under the terms of their Will, or, in a case where there is no Will, the next of kin who will deal with the Estate (the Administrator of the Estate). This claim is often limited to the costs of the funeral and other costs incurred by the Estate as a direct result of the death. Sometimes, where there is a long period of time between the accident and the eventual death, there may also be a claim for loss of earnings or other financial losses of the Deceased.
Any money recovered for this claim will fall to the Estate to be distributed in accordance with the terms of the Will or rules of intestacy.
2. The Dependent’s Claim
This is bought by those who were financially dependent upon the deceased person and are entitled to bring a claim under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976. This claim is the dependent individual’s claim and is separate to the claim which can be bought for the Estate.
The categories of people who can claim for loss of financial dependency are broad. Briefly, the main people who are likely to be dependent, and who are entitled to do so, include children or adopted children of the Deceased, wife or civil partner of the Deceased, a partner who has lived with the Deceased for more than two years prior to death, and mother and father of the Deceased.
There are other people who can claim and if you have any doubt then please contact us for further advice.
This claim for loss of dependency is often the most valuable claim which is bought after someone has died. It includes the loss of dependency on the income of the person who has died, as well as loss of dependency on services provided by the person who has died.
3. The Bereavement Damages Claim
Under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 specific categories of people are able to claim a bereavement award which is currently set at £10,000. The only people who can claim this award are the husband/wife or civil partner of the Deceased and the parents of a minor child.
How can we help you?
At Clarke Willmott we can help with advice and representation at a coroner’s inquest or HSE enquiry. We can also help you to bring a claim for damages where you are entitled to do so. If you are bringing a claim for loss of dependency, you may be suffering significant financial hardship. We will seek interim payments at an early stage to help ease your situation where at all possible.
Please feel free to contact us and discuss your situation in more detail.
