New Bill aims to ease the burden on victims of wrongful deaths

A Bill was introduced into the Scottish Parliament on 29 April 2009 aims to ease the burden on victims of ‘wrongful death’ and their relatives.  Some examples of wrongful death include road accidents, workplace deaths and asbestos related cancer.

The Bill follows recommendations in a Scottish Law Commission Report that the ‘living expenses’ deduction, taken away from compensation given to the families of victims, should be fixed at 25%.

In this context ‘living expenses’ relate to the percentage of a deceased person’s earnings that are subtracted from a compensation payment to represent money the deceased would have spent on himself.

Under the present system this means a persons income and expenditure are scrutinized in court until lawyers can agree on what percentage should be deducted.  This very public scrutiny on private matters takes time, costs money and is clearly distressing for families who have already suffered the anguish of losing a loved one.

Bill Butler, MSP, who introduced the Bill, stated: “By standardising the assumed living expenses of victims in wrongful death cases, we will avoid a great deal of distress for victims and expense for employers in unnecessary litigation”.

Solicitor Advocate Frank Maguire of Thompsons Solicitors concurs,  “Not only would this be just but it would also ensure that, in avoiding all of these debates on evidence and law, the case would be fairly automatic in terms of calculating this head of damage, reduce delays and speed up settlements.  It would also minimise the hardship to the person who is claiming in trying to explain to us how they live.”

Professor Joe Thomson, made clear his approval by commenting: "This bill clarifies, simplifies and modernises the law of damages for wrongful death."