Consultation Response: Statutory Bereavement Damages

The Department of Justice launched a consultation on statutory bereavement damages in Northern Ireland in October 2015. This relates to the Fatal Accidents (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 which allows a limited category of people to claim for a fixed sum of money known as a bereavement award when a person dies as the result of another person’s negligence. This has been fixed at £11,800 since 2008 and the consultation relates to the level of the fixed amount of the bereavement award and whether an increase is appropriate with several options outlined.

The Bar Council’s response to the consultation was submitted in November 2015 and can be read in full here. It emphasises the need for the level of bereavement damages to be increased, highlighting that the court is best placed to make an assessment of the circumstances relating to a death and any payment to a grieving parent, spouse or child.

The Department subsequently issued a post consultation report and has proposed to increase the award of bereavement damages in line with inflation, as measured by CPI and rounded to the nearest £100, with adjustments to be made every three years thereafter. Based on the CPI for November 2015, this would bring the award to £14,4004.