Fatal Accidents Act 1976

The Fatal Accidents Act 1976^[1]
Dates
Parliament of United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to consolidate the Fatal Accidents Acts.
Citation	1976 c 30
Territorial extent	England and Wales^[2]
Royal assent	22 July 1976
Commencement	1 September 1976^[3]
Repealed	—
Other legislation
Amended by	Administration of Justice Act 1982, ss. 3(1), 73(1)
Repealed by	—
Relates to	—
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (c 30) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that allows relatives of people killed by the wrongdoing of others to recover damages.

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 The 1976 Act modernised the process and repealed earlier legislation.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):

If death is caused by any wrongful act, neglect or default which is such as would (if death had not ensued) have entitled the person injured to maintain an action and recover damages in respect thereof, the person who would have been liable if death had not ensued shall be liable to an action for damages, notwithstanding the death of the person injured.

The Act allows claims under three heads:^[4]^[5]

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 1 April 2013, the amount of the bereavement claim award increased from £11,800 to £12,980.
Funeral expenses (s. 3(5)) of the dependants.

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

References

↑ The citation of this Act by this short title is authorised by section 7(1) of this Act.
↑ The Fatal Accidents Act 1976, section 7(3)
↑ The Fatal Accidents Act 1976, section 7(2)
1 2 Dow & Lill (2007)
↑ Lunney & Oliphant (2003) pp. 855-858

Bibliography

Dow, D.; Lill, J. (2007). Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Litigation. London: CLP. pp. Ch. 15. ISBN 1-905391-28-5.
Law Commission (1997) "Consultation Paper - Claims for Wrongful Death", LCCP148
Law Commission (1999) "Claims for Wrongful Death - A Final Report", LC263
Lunney, M.; Oliphant, K. (2003). Tort Law: Text and Materials (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 851–868. ISBN 0-19-926055-9.
Speiser, S. M. (1988). Recovery for Wrongful Death and Injury (3rd ed.). London: Callaghan. ASIN B001N4HP0A.

External links

The Fatal Accidents Act 1976, as amended from the National Archives.
The Fatal Accidents Act 1976, as originally enacted from the National Archives.

United Kingdom legislation

Pre-Parliamentary legislation	List of English statutes Charter of Liberties Magna Carta

Acts of Parliament by states preceding the Kingdom of Great Britain	Acts of the Parliament of England to 1483 1485–1601 1603–1641 Interregnum (1642–1660) 1660–1699 1700–1706 Acts of the Parliament of Scotland

Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain	1707–1719 1720–1739 1740–1759 1760–1779 1780–1800

Acts of the Parliament of Ireland	to 1700 1701–1800

Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	1801–1819 1820–1839 1840–1859 1860–1879 1880–1899 1900–1919 1920–1939 1940–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000 to date Halsbury's Statutes Legislation.gov.uk Short titles

Church of England measures	List Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919

Legislation of devolved institutions	Acts of the Scottish Parliament List Acts and Measures of the National Assembly for Wales List Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly List Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland List Orders in Council for Northern Ireland List

Orders-in-Council	Order in Council

Secondary legislation	United Kingdom Statutory Instruments Scottish Statutory Instruments Acts of Sederunt Acts of Adjournal

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