Case Study: Road Traffic Accident

The Claim

Battens Solicitors were instructed by both the mother and partner of a man who tragically lost his life as a result of a road traffic accident. Battens were instructed to pursue a claim in personal injury against the driver of the vehicle.

On 26 January 2019 the Deceased was a passenger in a vehicle driven by the Defendant, which crossed a carriageway and collided with a tree. The Defendant was convicted of causing death by careless driving when under the influence of alcohol. The Defendant admitted to having drunk 6 pints of lager on the day of the accident.

It was admitted that the accident was caused by the negligence of the Defendant.

Complexities

The case was complex in that the Deceased had sadly left behind several dependents. The Deceased had two sons and a daughter. His oldest son lived with his ex-wife and his younger son and daughter lived with the Deceased and his partner. His mother and father were also dependents of the Claimant.

Battens had to take instructions from two Claimants, the mother of the deceased who provided instructions in relation to the oldest son of the deceased and the father of the deceased, and instructions from the partner of the deceased in relation to her claim and that of her two children, who were dependents of the deceased.

This meant that there would need to be consideration as to how the award of compensation would be distributed amongst the dependants. The usual approach in respect of a child dependant is that the Court will advance the majority of the award for the use of the surviving parent, to provide for the child.

There were also allegations of contributory negligence put forward by the Defendant.

The Outcome

Battens Solicitors managed to successfully agree settlement to include a liability split, in relation to the alleged contributory negligence, on an 80/20% basis in the Claimant’s favour.

Compensation was also successfully apportioned amongst the dependents, with the Deceased’s partner receiving the highest award, in her capacity as the surviving parent of the deceased’s two younger children, and who had lived with the Deceased. The dependent children also received individual awards of compensation. There were also awards made for the Deceased’s mother and father.