New Law to Help Injury Victims & Families
7th March 2011
The Scottish Parliament has passed a new Damages Bill, which will reform the law of negligence with the aim of improving rights to compensation on the part of victims and their families in claims in respect of injury or death, including those caused by workplace accidents and industrial diseases.
The new law follows recommendations by the Scottish Law Commission, and was introduced by Bill Butler MSP. Changes to the existing law include:—
- A deceased person’s claim for the pain and suffering they endured before death may transmit to their executor.
- There will be an assumption that 75% of a deceased person's net income would have been available to support their family.
On average, 30 people die in Scotland in workplace accidents every year. In 2008, 272 people died in road traffic accidents.
Fatal accident cases are traditionally hard and long, because their value makes them worth fighting on the part of insurance companies. The new law should make the process simpler and faster.