Fatal Claims & Inquests
Fatal accident claims and inquest solicitors
Pannone's personal injury solicitors take fatal accident compensation claims on a no win, no fee basis which ensures that you will receive 100% of the compensation that you are awarded. Our service is completely free to you.
Should you choose to pursue a claim with Pannone, your case will be handled by a partner with extensive experience of fatal accident claims. Partners who regularly deal with such claims include Richard Scorer, Catherine Leech, Carol Jackson, Deirdre Healy and Joanne Berry.
For a free consultation with a personal injury solicitor that specialises in fatal accident claims, click here or call us free on 0800 0384 384. We are available to take your call twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. We can review your claim at no cost to you. Please call us if only to put your mind at rest.
If you have lost a loved one then you need specialist advice to ascertain what compensation is recoverable.
If you were financially dependent on the deceased then you may be able to claim for the loss of financial support, loss of other types of support such as childcare or household duties, and for loss of other benefits such as pension rights. The law sets out who is able to recover for dependency, and this includes:
- a spouse or a former spouse
- a civil partner or former civil partner
- a cohabitee if you have been living as man and wife for over two years,
- a parent or ascendant of the deceased
- a child or other descendant, or a child who may not be a blood relative but who was treated as a child of the family in relation to that marriage
- a person who is, or is the issue of, a brother, sister, uncle or aunt of the deceased
In certain cases you may be entitled to bereavement damages. This is a fixed sum set by statute at £11,800 and is only payable to the spouse of the deceased (including a civil partner), or the parents or mother of a child under 18 years.
If the deceased suffered any pain or distress following their accident, you can claim for their suffering. You can also claim for any financial losses arising from their injuries, including for example their medical expenses and their loss of earnings. You can also recover their funeral expenses.
Finally if you witnessed the accident involving your loved one, or the aftermath of that accident, you may have a separate claim. If somebody with a close tie of love and affection develops psychological or psychiatric symptoms as a consequence of witnessing an accident or the aftermath of an accident they may be able to bring a claim for nervous shock.
You should understand that a civil claim for fatal accident compensation will not result in a punishment for the negligent party. In most cases the compensation will be paid by an insurance company. Whilst pursuing a compensation claim over the death of your loved one can help you get an explanation of what happened and can lay blame for the accident, it will have no bearing on whether the police will launch a criminal case.
Inquest solicitors
Where the cause of death is sudden, violent or unknown, the state may call for an inquest into a fatal accident or injury. If somebody dies whilst in prison or in police custody an inquest is required by law. The purpose of an inquest is to establish the cause of death and the circumstances which led to the death. An inquest does not ever determine blame.
As a family member, you may attend the inquest as an interested party or you may appoint an inquest solicitor to attend in your place. Specialist inquest solicitors will know the correct procedure for applying to question witnesses, should you have anything to ask, or should your solicitor feel that obtaining information in the inquest might assist your fatal accident claim.
The Coroner will preside over the inquest and will question witnesses and examine evidence, including medical evidence and records of a post mortem, if one was carried out, to determine the cause of death. If the Coroner feels that the results of the inquest indicate that steps need to be taken to prevent similar accidents, he may draw attention to this issue by writing to a local council or appropriate government official.
If you have been reading this section of our website then you may well have been recently bereaved. We understand all the difficulties that you currently have to face but, we can help pursue any fatal accident claim for compensation and/or assist you with the inquest process. We can also put you in touch with charities who seek to help people in your circumstances.
Pannone works with a number of charities that specialise in supporting the recently bereaved, individuals who have suffered serious injuries through no fault of their own and the victims of other forms of negligence or abuse. These charities include the CBC (Child Bereavement Charity), Headway, Child Brain Injury Trust, Brake and the Brain and Spinal Injury Charity.
Fatal accident claims
For a free consultation with a Pannone solicitor that specialises in fatal accident claims and inquests click here or call us free on 0800 0384 384. We are available to take your call twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.