Quantum calculator
Fatal accident compensation calculator
The statutory bereavement award and the conventional dependency calculation under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 for England and Wales. Every figure is computed from the encoded statutory sum and the conventional ratios, shown with its full working, and cited to the rule in force on the date the cause of action accrued.
Rules current to 1 May 2020. Read how these calculators work on the quantum methodology page.
What the calculator covers
The bereavement award is a fixed statutory sum under section 1A of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976, keyed to the date the cause of action accrued. Causes of action accruing on or after 1 May 2020 take £15,120 under SI 2020/316, and earlier causes of action take £12,980. It can be claimed by the spouse or civil partner of the deceased, a qualifying cohabitant of two or more years, or the parents of an unmarried minor child, the mother alone if the child was illegitimate. Where both parents claim, the award is split equally between them.
The dependency claim under section 3 uses the conventional ratios from Harris v Empress Motors Ltd [1984] 1 WLR 212 and Coward v Comex. With dependent children, annual dependency is 75 per cent of joint net income minus the net income of the surviving partner. Without dependent children it is two-thirds of joint net income minus the net income of the surviving partner, applied as the exact fraction and never a rounded percentage. The ratios are conventional and rebuttable only with detailed financial evidence (Chouza v Martins [2021] EWHC 1669 (QB)), so the calculator accepts an override percentage with a mandatory justification recorded in the working.
Following Knauer v Ministry of Justice [2016] UKSC 9, the multiplier for future dependency runs from the date of trial, and the period from death to trial is treated as past loss. The Ogden multiplier and the death-to-trial period are explicit user inputs in this calculator, clearly flagged, pending the Ogden module. Funeral expenses pass through and are added to the total. Interest on any head is out of scope and belongs to the interest on damages module.
The calculator covers England and Wales only. Northern Ireland has a fixed bereavement award of £17,200 and Scotland has no fixed sum at all, with a judge-assessed award for a wider class of relatives and no statutory cap. Both jurisdictions are flagged and no figure is computed for them.
Primary sources
- Fatal Accidents Act 1976, bereavement under section 1A, dependency under section 3, and funeral expenses.
- The Damages for Bereavement (Variation of Sum) (England and Wales) Order 2020 (SI 2020/316), applying to causes of action accruing on or after 1 May 2020.
- Harris v Empress Motors Ltd [1984] 1 WLR 212 and Coward v Comex, the source of the conventional dependency ratios.
- Chouza v Martins [2021] EWHC 1669 (QB), the ratios are conventional and rebuttable only with detailed financial evidence.
- Knauer v Ministry of Justice [2016] UKSC 9, the multiplier for future dependency runs from the date of trial.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the bereavement award?
For causes of action accruing on or after 1 May 2020 the statutory bereavement award in England and Wales is £15,120, set by the Damages for Bereavement (Variation of Sum) (England and Wales) Order 2020 (SI 2020/316). For causes of action accruing before 1 May 2020 the sum was £12,980. The 1 May 2020 boundary itself takes £15,120.
Who can claim the bereavement award?
The spouse or civil partner of the deceased, a qualifying cohabitant of two or more years, or the parents of an unmarried minor child, the mother alone if the child was illegitimate. Where both parents claim, the award is split equally between them.
How is the dependency calculated?
Where the family unit is a couple with dependent children, annual dependency is conventionally 75 per cent of joint net income minus the survivor's own net income. Where the couple has no dependent children it is two-thirds of joint net income minus the survivor's own net income, applied as the exact fraction. The ratios come from Harris v Empress Motors Ltd [1984] 1 WLR 212 and Coward v Comex, and are conventional and rebuttable only with detailed financial evidence (Chouza v Martins [2021] EWHC 1669 (QB)).
From what date does the future dependency multiplier run?
From the date of trial, not the date of death, following Knauer v Ministry of Justice [2016] UKSC 9, which overruled Cookson v Knowles and Graham v Dodds. The period from death to trial is treated as past loss.
Does the calculator cover Scotland or Northern Ireland?
No. Northern Ireland has a fixed bereavement award of £17,200 and Scotland has no fixed sum at all, with a judge-assessed award for a wider class of relatives and no statutory cap. The calculator flags both jurisdictions and computes nothing for them.
What does this calculator not compute?
It does not compute Ogden multipliers or the death-to-trial period. Both are explicit user inputs, clearly flagged, pending the Ogden module. Interest on any head belongs to the interest on damages module. Funeral expenses are a pass-through input added to the total, with no computation.