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Fatal Accidents Act 1976

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Citation
  
1976 c 30

Royal assent
  
22 July 1976

Repealed
  
—

Territorial extent
  
England and Wales

Commencement
  
1 September 1976

Fatal Accidents Act 1976

Long title
  
An Act to consolidate the Fatal Accidents Acts.

The Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (c 30) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that allows relatives of people killed by the wrongdoing of others to recover damages.

Contents

Background

The Fatal Accidents Act 1846 had allowed claims for damages by the relatives of deceased persons for the first time. The 1976 Act modernised the process and repealed earlier legislation.

The Act

The Act allows claims as stipulated in s. 1(1):

If death is caused by any wrongful act, neglect or default which is such as would (if death had not ensued) have entitled the person injured to maintain an action and recover damages in respect thereof, the person who would have been liable if death had not ensued shall be liable to an action for damages, notwithstanding the death of the person injured.

The Act allows claims under three heads:

  • Dependency claim (s. 1) - A claim for economic loss by a restricted class of "dependant" defined in s.1(3).
  • Bereavement claim (s. 1A) - A claim in recognition of grief by a further restricted class of "dependant", similar to a solatium in Scottish law. As of 1 April 2013, the amount of the bereavement claim award increased from £11,800 to £12,980.
  • Funeral expenses (s. 3(5)) of the dependants.

    • An award must take account of any social security benefits received (s. 4).

    References

    Fatal Accidents Act 1976 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA