BEREAVEMENT DAMAGES IN THE “DIS-UNITED” KINGDOM: THE “POSTCODE LOTTERY” FOLLOWING A FATAL ACCIDENT

The Association of Personal Injury lawyers made a presentation yesterday in relation to re-consideration of the law relating to bereavement damages in the UK. It point, in particular, to the differences between the law in England,Wales  and Northern Irelan compared to Scotland.

THE PRESENTATION

The presentation is available here.

There are some interesting observations from those who have experienced bereavement as well as a presentation in relation to the research that has been carried out.

THE RESEARCH

The research is available here.

THE ISSUES BEING DISCUSSED

These are summarised by APIL President Sam Elsby in the introduction entitled “Postcode Lottery”.

“In Scotland, claims for compensation for bereavement are considered on a case-by-case basis, with personal circumstances and relationships taken into consideration. This is how it should be, but it is not how bereaved people are treated in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. Instead, bereaved people in those jurisdictions are dealt with in a way which is rigid, discriminatory, and
woefully out of date.

The time for the law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to be brought into the 21st century is long overdue. The law in Scotland has no difficulty recognising the closeness between parents, children of all ages, grandparents, siblings and other people who lived with the deceased as part of the family. In the rest of the UK it’s as if many such relationships are not important, or do not even exist.”