It is deeply upsetting and shocking to lose someone you love in a fatal accident. Even though no amount of money can compensate you for the pain you feel, compensation for fatal accident injuries can give you some financial relief so you can focus on more important matters.
Who Can Make a Claim For The Deceased
Dependents of a deceased person might file a claim for compensation under the Fatal Accident Act if somebody else’s negligence or error caused the accident. Dependents include:
- The spouse or ex-spouse
- Someone who lived with the deceased for the past two years before passing
- Children by blood, as well as descendants through adoption, marriage, or civil partnerships
- Ascendants of the dead, including grandparents, great grandparents, and relatives whom they treated as parents
- Cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews
When A Fatal Accident Occurs, What Can You Claim?
Each case is unique. The amount of compensation you are entitled to may vary depending on the circumstances surrounding the accident and other factors. You can get payment from a personal accident insurance policy for the following items in case of a fatal accident:
- Pain, suffering and loss of facility of the deceased – If the deceased suffered a disease, such as an asbestosis or were bedridden due to medical negligence, this claim would compensate them for the pain and suffering they endured while alive.
- Actual losses incurred – This component includes payment for actual expenses incurred for the injured person and any administrative costs incurred in the event of their death. As a result, they cover basic expenses incurred like hospitalization, nursing care, medications, housing adaptations, and travelling expenses. Also included are funeral expenses.
- Loss of earnings – If the death wasn’t immediate, they consider the loss of profits because of unemployment.
- Loss of services – The family can also file a claim for compensation for the loss of services provided by the deceased, such as childcare, housework, gardening, etc. They may consider the cost of hiring an alternative caregiver if the dead person was caring for another sick family member.
- Dependent losses – This is often the most significant component of compensation claims resulting from fatal accidents. It applies if the deceased had dependents depending on their income, such as a spouse, minor children, or elderly parents. The amount will depend on the deceased’s income. In addition to lost pension benefits, the calculation may also include healthcare benefits, the use of a company car, and mobile phone usage.
How To Make a Claim
A claim is against the vehicle owner or driver that caused the accident, and the insurer of that vehicle handles it. To claim, you must:
- Notify the police in writing about the accident
- Find out what car caused the accident by obtaining its registration number.
- Get a claim form from the insurer of the vehicle that caused the accident.
To discover the vehicle’s registration number that caused the accident, contact the police, speak to witnesses, or publish an advertisement in your local newspaper asking witnesses to contact you. After trying everything to locate the vehicle’s registration number involved against the Nominal Defendant, there comes the claim if the car is ‘unidentified’. A claim can also be filed against the nominal defendant when the vehicle causing the accident is unregistered.
