Grieving process – First-Tier tribunal rules CICA award for bereavement would not amount to double recovery

• Publication date: May 2013
• Publication: PI Focus Magazine
• Information type: Article

In this article Liverpool Solicitor, Richard Edwards examines a criminal injuries claim
where a preliminary issue concerned eligibility for a bereavement award. In a tragic
case, the family of Andrew O’Neill—killed by a dangerous driver in 2010—challenged
a decision by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) that would have
denied them an award for bereavement damages. Since Andrew was over 18 and
unmarried, no bereavement award was available through a civil claim under the
Fatal Accidents Act 1976. One was therefore sought under the Criminal Injuries
Compensation Scheme. The CICA argued that because the family received a civil
compensation payment for financial losses (e.g. funeral costs, dependency), their
criminal injuries award should be reduced to zero under paragraph 48 of the
Scheme, which prevents “double recovery” for the same injury. The First-tier Tribunal
disagreed. It found that the bereavement award addressed emotional loss (grief), not
financial loss, and that the civil and criminal claims covered different types of harm.
The Tribunal ruled that applying paragraph 48 in this way would lead to absurd
outcomes and was not the intention of the rule. This case sets an important
precedent for grieving families seeking bereavement damages under the criminal
injuries scheme, particularly where civil claims do not cover emotional loss.

Download this article

Grieving process – PI Focus Magazine May 2013 (PDF: 182 KB)

This article does not represent legal advice. All claimants require specialist bespoke advice about their own individual claims from expert lawyers. If you require advice about any issue covered by this article, please contact our offices and ask to speak to Richard Edwards.