Law on bereavement damages ‘desperately out of touch’
An unmarried woman has won her case on bereavement damages, in a landmark Court of Appeal decision that could change the law.
Jakki Smith applied for the £12,980 fixed sum paid out if a person dies as a result of negligence, after the death of her partner of 11 years, John Bulloch. However, the award is only paid out to spouses and civil partners. Smith claimed this policy breached her Arts 8 and 14 European Convention rights on the grounds of her non-marital status and her right to respect for family life.
The Court of Appeal’s handed down judgment this week in Smith’s favour, in Smith v Lancashire Teaching Hospitals [2017] EWCA Civ 1916. Smith will not receive any money as retrospective payments cannot be made, but brought the case on a matter of principle.
Smith’s solicitor, Zak Golombeck, solicitor at Slater & Gordon, said: ‘This is an historic decision, and one that is long overdue.
‘The Law Commission has previously recommended that cohabiting couples should be eligible for bereavement damages. Significantly, the government also produced a draft bill in 2009, although it was never progressed.’
Golombeck said the ruling means the matter will now be referred to Parliament for them to consider whether there will be a change in the law.
In Scotland, the law on bereavement damages already extends to cohabitees as well as other immediate family members such as parents or children.
Association of Personal Injury Lawyers president Brett Dixon said: ‘The law on bereavement damages in England and Wales is desperately out of touch.
‘The price of a life is valued at an arbitrary figure and anyone other than a spouse or civil partner and some parents of under 18s are not deemed close enough to the deceased to make a claim for their loss and suffering.’
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