The claimant sought damages after her husband’s death. The defendant sought to deduct from any damages payable, the payments made from its Employee Benefit Trust.
Held: The payments were to be disregarded. The payments accrued to the claimant not through her late husband’s estate but directly through the trust. The claim was made through the estate. The payments fell within section 4 of the 1976 Act as amended. This was in line with Parliament’s intention in 1982. The employer could have achieved the result he now sought by making payment expressly excluded from section 4 by being a conditional payment on account of its liabilities to the deceased’s estate.
Lord Justice Ward, Lord Justice Dyson and Lady Justice Smith
[2008] EWCA Civ 447, Times 25-Jun-2008
Bailii
Fatal Accidents Act 1976 3 4
England and Wales
Personal Injury, Damages
Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.267550
