Fatal Accidents Act 1976
Encyclopedia
The Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (c. 30) is an Act of Parliament
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
, that allows relatives of people killed by the wrongdoing of others to recover damages
.
The Act received the royal assent
on 22 July 1976, came into force on 1 September 1976 and applies only to England and Wales
.
The Act allows claims under three heads:
An award must take account of any social security
benefits received (s. 4).
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
, that allows relatives of people killed by the wrongdoing of others to recover damages
Damages
In law, damages is an award, typically of money, to be paid to a person as compensation for loss or injury; grammatically, it is a singular noun, not plural.- Compensatory damages :...
.
The Act received the royal assent
Royal Assent
The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...
on 22 July 1976, came into force on 1 September 1976 and applies only to England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
.
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 The 1976 Act modernised the process and repealed earlier legislation.The Act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):The Act allows claims under three heads:
- Dependency claim (s. 1) - A claim for economic lossPure economic lossEconomic loss refers to financial loss and damage suffered by a person such as can be seen only on a balance sheet rather than as physical injury to the person or destruction of property...
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 solatiumSolatiumSolatium is a form of compensation for emotional rather than physical or financial harm.- Scots law :It is used in Scots law mainly to denote reparation for pain and suffering in personal injury cases...
in Scottish law. As of the 1st January 2008, the amount of the bereavement claim award increased from £10,000 to £11,800. - Funeral expenses (s. 3(5)) of the dependants.
An award must take account of any social security
Social security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
benefits received (s. 4).