Fatal Accidents Act 1976

Infobox UK Legislation
short_title=Fatal Accidents Act 1976
parliament=United Kingdom Parliament
long_title=An Act to consolidate the Fatal Accidents Acts.
statute_book_chapter=1976 c. 30
introduced_by=
territorial_extent=England and Wales [S.7(3)]
royal_assent=22 July 1976
commencement=1 September 1976 [S. 7(2)]
repeal_date=—
amendments=Administration of Justice Act 1982, ss. 3(1), 73(1)
related_legislation=—
repealing_legislation=—
status=Current
original_text=
activeTextDocId=1242448
legislation_history=
|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.

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 The 1976 Act modernised the process and repealed earlier legislation.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:Dow & Lill (2007)] Lunney & Oliphant (2003) "pp." 855-858]
*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 2008, this is an award fixed by statute at £10,000.
*Funeral expenses (s. 3(5)) of the dependants.

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

References

Bibliography

* cite book | author=Dow, D. & Lill, J. | title=Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Litigation | location=London | publisher=CLP | year=2007 | id=ISBN 1-905391-28-5 | pages=Ch. 15
*Law Commission (1997} " [http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/docs/cp148.pdf Consultation Paper - Claims for Wrongful Death] ", LCCP148
*— (1999) " [http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/docs/lc263.pdf Claims for Wrongful Death - A Final Report] ", LC263
* cite book | author=Lunney, M. & Oliphant, K. | year=2003 | title=Tort Law: Text and Materials | edition=2nd ed. | location=Oxford | publisher=Oxford University Press | id=ISBN 0-19-926055-9 | pages=851-868
* cite book | author=Speiser, S. M. | title=Recovery for Wrongful Death and Injury | publisher=Callaghan | edition=3rd ed. | year=1988 | id=ISBN 9999690823 | location=London ----