Damages under the Fatal Accidents Acts are calculated having regard to ‘a balance of gains and losses for the injury sustained by the death.
An appellate court should be slow to interfere with a judge’s assessment of damages. Lord Wright said: ‘An appellate court is always reluctant to interfere with a finding of a trial judge on any question of fact, but it is particularly reluctant to interfere with a finding on damages which differs from an ordinary finding of fact in that it is generally much more a matter of speculation and estimate. No doubt, this statement is truer in respect of some cases than of others . . It is difficult to lay down any precise rule which will cover all cases, but . . the court, before it interferes with an award of damages, should be satisfied that the judge has acted on a wrong principle of law, or has misapprehended the facts, or has for these or other reasons made a wholly erroneous estimate of the damage suffered.’
Lord Wright described an action for personal injury by an employee for breach of statutory duty, saying: ‘A common law action based on the purpose of the statute to protect the workman, and belonging to the category often described as that of cases of strict or absolute liability.’
Lord Wright
111 LJKB 418, [1942] 1 All ER 657, [1942] AC 601, [1941] 1 KB 519
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Parabola Investments Ltd and Others v Browallia Cal Ltd and Others CA 5-May-2010
The second defendant appealed against the level of damages awarded against him after he was found guilty of a fraud on the claimant, saying that the loss of profits element was unproven.
Held: The appeal failed. Where a claimant’s investment . .
Cited – Hay v Hughes CA 17-Oct-1974
A couple had died in a road accident. The court considered the award of damages for dependency. . .
Cited – Pickett v British Rail Engineering HL 2-Nov-1978
Lost Earnings claim Continues after Death
The claimant, suffering from mesothelioma, had claimed against his employers and won, but his claim for loss of earnings consequent upon his anticipated premature death was not allowed. He began an appeal, but then died. His personal representatives . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Damages
Leading Case
Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.412278