News Category 2
Fatal Accident Dependency Claims: A Working Example: Death of a Wife & Mother as a Result of Mesothelioma - Gordon Exall, Zenith Chambers
15/09/14. Reports of decisions on dependency calculations are always welcome. Fatal accident damages account for 4% of payments made in personal injury claims. The number of reported cases on damages is relatively small. Cases are often better investigated and less likely to go to trial because there are far fewer disputed issues. The case of Knauer -v- Ministry of Defence [2014] EWHC 2553 (QB) provides a working example of how damages are calculated. It also demonstrates the incorrect approach of some defendants to some aspects of claims for fatal damages.
THE FACTS OF KNAUER
Mrs Knauer had been exposed to asbestos when working as an administrator at a prison. As a result she developed mesothelioma and died at the age of 46. She had three sons aged 22, 20 and 16. The action was brought by her widower. She had what was described as an “old fashioned” relationship with her husband, in that she did most of the housework and shopping whilst he did household repairs. The couple ran a pub together.
THE MESOTHELIOMA
The judge described mesothelioma as a “hideous and incurable disease causing appalling suffering.” Mrs Knauer was no exception. She was in considerable pain, and knew she was suffering from a terminal illness, from diagnosis in March 2009 to the date of her death in August 2009...
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It’s Not All Pounds and Pence - Richard Fraser, Frenkel Topping
10/09/14. The continued care and welfare benefits needs of those with personal injury or clinical negligence awards can be confusing and stressful matters. Yet as Richard Fraser, Managing Director of Frenkel Topping, explains, concerns aren’t always focused on the pounds and pence but often the options for wellbeing and care – the ability for an individual, their carers or deputy to choose the best possible care solutions, for life.
When an accident or injury changes the course of a life, financial security and long-term wellbeing for individuals and their families are often ‘impossible’ dreams. Having worked with individuals in receipt of damages due to personal injury and clinical negligence for over 25 years (offering specialist independent financial advice, welfare benefits advice and continuing care guidance), we have seen the full range of financial concerns and fear of vulnerability faced by disabled individuals and their families across the UK...
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You May Delay, but Time Will Not. Benjamin Franklin - Sophie Beesley, Old Square Chambers
08/09/14. Colefax v First Tier Tribunal (Social Entitlement Chamber) & Anr v Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority [2014] EWCA Civ 945. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority deals with claims from those injured as a result of a violent crime. Mr Colefax’s case concerned the interpretation of paragraph 18 of the 2008 Scheme which sets a two-year time limit for making an application. If a claim is made out of time, there is discretion to waive the limit if an applicant can show (a) it is practicable for the application to be considered and (b) it was not reasonable to expect the application to have been made within the two-year period.
In May 2007, Mr Colefax was the victim of a violent assault. His head was pushed into a brick wall; he lost consciousness and suffered multiple jaw fractures and a wound over his right eye. In December 2007, he began to suffer symptoms of epilepsy, but it was not until September 2009 that he was advised that he was suffering from post-traumatic epilepsy which had been caused by the May 2007 assault.
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The Ever-Ageing 13-Year-Old Compensation Discount Rate - Thomas Crockett, 1 Chancery Lane
03/09/14. There has been a further delay to the much-anticipated and important decision on the discount rate to be applied to compensation. And this comes almost two years after conclusion of the consultation on the question of whether the current rate of 2.5% should be modified.
This issue is of course of extreme importance to anyone involved in injury litigation. The legal professions are somewhat divided as to whether the rate should be increased or decreased, along (usually) respectively defendant and...
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A Head for Heights - Simon Readhead QC, 1 Chancery Lane
25/08/14. “I was out in the garden with my stepladder today. Not my real ladder. I don't get on with my real ladder”. I was reminded of this old one liner when reading the latest instalment of the government’s Red Tape Challenge. This is the revised guidance issued by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on working at height. This is now much simpler and sets out in clear terms what the law requires and the nature of an individual's responsibilities. It should be part of every personal injury lawyer’s tool kit...
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More Articles...
- Can You Have Your Cake and Eat It? - Helen Tinkler, CILEx, CILEx Law School, Bar Standards Board and Whatley Weston & Fox
- Mcgregor v. Genco (FC) Ltd: Time and Duty - Simon Morrow & Malcolm Keen, BLM
- PI Practitioner, August 2014
- Court of Protection in the Spotlight - Eddie Fardell, Thomson Snell & Passmore
![Appeal judge rules that credit hire company has no costs liability following a finding of fundamental dishonesty in personal injury case: RSA v. Fastrack Solutions Limited [2023] 4 WLUK 92 - David Bowden, Erimus Chambers](/content/images/resized/images/stories/carkeys_72_72.jpg)
