£150,000 Compensation Payout For A Fatal Injury – Advice To Help Calculate Compensation Payouts

Many accidents can result in tragic consequences. However, there’s no consequence more tragic than that of a fatal injury. If you’ve lost a loved one because of a fatal injury they suffered during an accident that wasn’t their fault, compensation could be owed.

Suppose your partner or loved one was fatally injured at work. If you can prove that this was a result of their employer breaching their duty of care, there could be grounds to make a claim against them. Similarly, you could be able to make a claim against a supermarket or restaurant for a public place accident or another driver for a road traffic accident on behalf of your loved one.

This article hopes to help you understand how the personal injury claims process works, giving you an idea of whether you could be entitled to claim fatal injury compensation on behalf of a loved one.

Fatal injury compensation

Fatal injury compensation

To do so, we’ve created an example case study to help illustrate how a fatal accident could happen. In addition, this will illustrate how the claims process works and how a No Win No Fee personal injury lawyer could help you win the right amount of compensation for the case. Links will also be provided throughout to helpful websites and insightful statistics.

Ultimately, we hope to give you the knowledge and confidence that you need to begin a fatal injury claim on behalf of a loved one. The claim you make can be both for yourself if you were a dependant and on behalf of your loved one.

For a no-obligation consultation and some free legal advice regarding your options, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today:

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A Guide To Claiming Compensation Payouts For A Fatal Injury

The Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934 allows a case for compensation to be launched by the estate on behalf of the deceased if the fatality was a result of third-party negligence. Similarly, The Fatal Accidents Act 1976 also enables dependants to do the same, meaning that a partner, spouse or loved one can attempt to seek fatal injury compensation for their loss.

If you have any further questions about fatal injury compensation or how the claims process works, simply give us a call today. We can offer you a free, no-obligation consultation regarding your case, and can help you take your next steps towards making a claim.

What Is A Fatal Injury?

A fatal injury is one that results in death, whether instantly or over a short period of time. Technically, a fatal injury results in death within 30 days of the accident that caused it. An injury may only be referred to as a fatal injury after death has occurred, however, it could be identified beforehand if death is an apparent and unpreventable outcome.

How Can You Suffer A Fatal Injury At Work?

According to the Health and Safety Executive, government statistics show that 142 workers suffered a fatal injury in 2020/21, showing an increase of 29 deaths from the previous year’s statistics. In general, the rate of fatal injury to workers is gradually declining but has flattened in recent years.

Staggeringly, 138 of these worker fatalities were male, accounting for 97% overall. In terms of age, about 30% of worker fatalities were aged 60 or over, despite the fact that they only account for 11% of the workforce.

The most common type of work-related fatal accident was, falls from a height, which accounted for 25% of all worker deaths that year alone. These accidents reflect the fact that the top three most common industries reporting fatal injuries were construction, agriculture and manufacturing.

It’s also important to note that it’s not just workers that are killed in these types of accidents, as many members of the public have unfortunately lost their lives as a result of them too. Between 2020 and 2021, 60 bystanders were fatally injured as a result of a work-related accident.

If you can prove that your loved one was involved in a fatal accident at work or was unfortunately killed as an innocent member of the public, due to a breach in the duty of care owed to them by a third party you could be able to claim compensation for their death. To learn more about how to do so, please read on or get in touch today.

What Is An Employer’s Duty Of Care?

Your employer has a duty of care to you, which helps ensure your safety while at work. The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 outlines what this duty of care entails.

It’s unreasonable to suggest anybody could predict every hazard that could result in an accident. However, there are certain preventive measures that employers can take to minimise the risk of preventable accidents occurring. These include:

  • Providing correct Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
  • Sufficiently training their employees.
  • Conducting regular maintenance checks and repairs.
  • Carrying out regular risk assessments on equipment.
  • Keeping walkways and workspaces clear of debris and potential hazards.

How Can My Employer Breach Their Duty Of Care?

If an employer fails to adhere to relevant legislation that establishes their duty of care, the consequences could be disastrous. If a loved one suffered a fatal injury at work because of an accident caused by their employer’s negligence, you might be entitled to make an accident at work claim against them.

For example, if your loved one was fatally injured because they were asked to do something that they were not trained to do or they were not properly equipt for, this is another example of how an employer can breach their duty of care to their employees.

If you do launch a work accident claim, you must be able to prove this breach of duty. Always try to have the incident logged or at least make the management aware of what has happened.  It would also be useful to acquire any photographic evidence of the scene of the accident and collect eyewitnesses’ contact information if possible.

Fatal Injury In A Public Place

No one expects their lives to drastically change while doing their weekly shop, parking in a public car park or strolling around their local park, but accidents can happen. If a loved one was fatally injured in a public place accident that wasn’t their fault, you shouldn’t assume that no one could be held liable just because the responsible third party isn’t immediately apparent

Those in control of public places have a duty of care to help ensure users’ safety while on site. Whether it’s a business owner, local authority or council that neglected their duty of care, if your loved one suffered a fatal injury as a result of negligence, you could be entitled to claim compensation.

The Duty Of Care Of Those In Control Of Public Spaces

The legislation that outlines the duty of care owed to you while using a public place is known as the Occupier’s Liability Act 1957. It states that the occupier is someone who should have adequate control over their premises to ensure that they can take steps to prevent any hazards from causing accidents as best as they reasonably can.

How Can This Duty Be Breached?

There are a number of hazards that could cause a fatal injury in a public place Some examples include:

  • Slipping on a wet shop floor with no hazard sign
  • Tripping in a dangerously large pothole on a park pathway
  • Being struck by unsafely stacked items on a supermarket shelf
  • Being electrocuted by a faulty car parking metre
  • Falling on ungritted library steps in hazardous weather conditions

These are all very real ways that an accident could happen and in some cases, they could result in a fatal injury. If a loved one suffered a fatal injury in a public place because those in control of it failed to uphold their duty of care, you could have grounds to make a public liability claim for compensation.

If you’d like to take advantage of our free consultations or are interested in getting help from our panel of personal injury solicitors, please contact us today.

How Can You Suffer A Fatal Injury In A Road Traffic Accident?

Road traffic accidents are another common type of incident that could result in fatal injuries. According to the Department for Transport, the latest government statistics show that there were 1,580 reported road deaths between 2019 and 2020.

Though this number has decreased from the previous year’s statistics, it’s important to note that these figures account for 3 months of the national lockdown. As a result, motor vehicle traffic decreased by 14% that year alone, which is reflected in the considerable reduction of reported casualties between March and June 2020 in particular.

As you can probably imagine, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are the most vulnerable road user grounds of all. They aren’t protected by the hard outer shell of a vehicle like other road users, making them more susceptible to accidents and subsequent fatal injuries.

Duty Of Care Of Road Users 

The Highway Code exists so that, as road users, we know what’s to be expected of one another. Not only must we try to ensure our own safety but we should try to keep the safety of others in mind also. It’s the responsibility of every road user to take reasonable steps to help minimise any risk they may pose to others on the road.

How Can A Road User Breach Their Duty Of Care?

Failure to pay full attention to the roads at all times could have disastrous results. If the actions of another road user caused your loved one to suffer a fatal injury, you could have grounds to claim compensation against them.

Some ways in which road users could breach their duty of care to one another include:

  • Using a phone while driving.
  • Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
  • Driving while tired.
  • Speeding.
  • Reckless or careless driving.

If you’d like to discuss a road traffic accident claim for fatal injury compensation or you would just like some free legal advice on how to claim fatal injury compensation on behalf of a deceased person please get in touch with our friendly team of advisors today.

Breakdown Of Personal Injury Compensation Calculation Process

After the initial distress of dealing with an accident resulting in a fatal injury, you may start to wonder about making a compensation claim. But where would you start?

When making a fatal injury claim on behalf of a loved one and also because you are a dependant or parent there are different things to take into consideration. Generally, personal injury claims when suecssful are made up of general and special damages. So, general damages cover the pain and suffering of those involved and special damages looks at past losses and also future losses.

Under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976, claims can be made for statutory bereavement damages for the grief and trauma suffered as a result of the loss of a loved one.

You could receive compensation for general damages for any pain and suffering a fatal injury caused your loved one before they died. In addition, you could be able to make a claim for yourself for any trauma that you were left with.

In the meantime, if you’d like free legal advice regarding how a claim would be calculated, give our friendly advisers a call today.

What Are Special Damages?

Special damages are the second head of damage that makes up the final award of fatal injury compensation.

A vital part of successfully claiming special damages is evidence. Keeping invoices, receipts and anything else that proves how much money you’ve paid out in relation to your loss will help give your claim the best chances of success.

If you like to talk more about special damages, or would like some free legal advice on how to claim fatal injury compensation, please get in touch with our team today.

Case Study: £150,000 For A Fatal Injury

Jake Jackson’s Accident

Jake Jackson was a 35-year-old man who loved to cycle. He was an active person who had successfully completed two Trialthalons and was now training to take part in the Tour de France. He’d been a keen cyclist since the age of 18 and knew the Highway Code like the back of his hand.

The day Mr Jackson’s life was cruelly cut short started out like any other. He woke up at 5 am like he did most Saturdays to get a head-start on his training. He dressed in his helmet and usual safety gear and kissed his wife goodbye before setting off on his usual route.

Unfortunately, a mere 20 minutes into his 2-hour training session, he was struck by a car while waiting at a set of traffic lights. A passer-by witnessed everything and called emergency services right away, arriving at the scene of the incident within minutes.

Tragically though, it was too late for Mr Jackson. He was taken straight to intensive care where he was put on a ventilator but despite valiant efforts from his medical team, he passed away.

The Aftermath

Mr Jackson’s death was not instant, though his wife wished it had have been. Instead, he suffered for 2 long weeks. After he passed, his wife was inconsolable.

As more details of the accident unfolded it turned out that the driver of the vehicle that hit her husband was a young man that had recently passed his test. The accident itself was a simple misjudgement on his part.

However, Mrs Jackson knew that her husband was fatally injured through no fault of his own. Therefore, she decided to make a compensation claim to help cover costs that the accident had left her with, including her husband’s funeral costs and the loss of earnings that he wouldn’t be contributing to their home anymore.

She began by getting in touch with a No Win No Fee personal injury lawyer. Luckily, everything was caught on a nearby CCTV camera, and after acquiring statements from a few eyewitnesses, she had a strong basis of evidence for the claim.

Eventually won a £150,000 payout in fatal Injury compensation.

Of course, no amount of money could ever rectify such a devastating loss. However, it did go a long way in helping Mrs Jackson put her life back together piece by piece. Below is a table showing exactly how the sum of £150,000 was reached;

Pain and SufferingLosses
Awarded a total of £10,000 for causing excruciating pain followed by unconsciousness after 3 hours and death two weeks later, as recommended by the JCG.Loss of Mr Jackson's potential earnings - £135,000
Funeral costs - £5,000

This case study is purely an example. We have illustrated it to show how an expert No Win No Fee lawyer could support throughout the case and help achieve the right amount of compensation. 

The Value Of Your Claim Deserves Free Legal Advice

It would be easy enough to search for a personal injury claims calculator online, and within seconds you’d be inundated with results. However, online personal injury claims calculators can give you a general estimate rather than considering your claim’s more unique details.

Instead, all you need to do is get in touch with our team of specialist advisors for a free, no-obligation consultation about your case. The more we know about it, the more we can help and support you. If you’d like a professional to handle your claim, we can then connect you to our panel of personal injury solicitors.

To take advantage of our free advice and claims valuation service, give us a call today. You can also write to us by using our online contact form, or our live chat messaging feature.

Simple Guidance Of How No Win No Fee Claims Work

There are many benefits to making a personal injury claim using a No Win No Fee agreement or Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). The agreement is a way of funding legal help you would otherwise pay for upfront.

Other benefits of using a No Win No Fee personal injury lawyer include:

  • No fees to pay upfront.
  • No fees to pay while your case is ongoing.
  • Nothing to pay your lawyer if your case doesn’t win.
  • If your case wins, the only thing you’ll have to pay is a small success fee.

The success fee is a nominal payment to your lawyer in the event that they win your case for you, which is capped and deducted from your overall compensation payout. As No Win No Fee lawyers only receive a payment if they win your case, you can be confident in the knowledge that your lawyer will have your best interests at heart throughout.

With a case as sensitive as that of a fatal injury claim, it can be a great relief to know you have adequate legal support and advice on your side. Get in touch with us today to see how a No Win No Fee personal injury solicitor from our panel could help you today.

Our Experienced Team Will Give You Free Legal Advice

Our team of specialist advisors offer free legal advice along with an initial no-obligation consultation to all potential claimants. What’s more, they can then put you in touch with an experienced personal injury solicitor who would be more than happy to discuss your claim and explain how they could help.

So, why wait? Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today using one of the three contact options below.

More Resources And Guides On Fatal Injuries

Fatal Injury FAQs

What is considered a fatal injury?

A fatal injury is any injury that results in death, whether instantly after an accident or within thirty days of the accident.

Can you survive a fatal injury?

In typical cases, a fatal injury has either already resulted in death or is deemed by a medical professional to certainly lead to death.

What is the most common cause of fatal injuries?

Falls from a height, being struck by a moving vehicle, including flying or falling object, continue as the three main causes of fatal injury.

Thank you for reading our guide on how to claim fatal injury compensation.

Published by RS