Fatal Accident Solicitors in Bridgend and Rhondda Cynon Taff

Losing a loved one in an accident is a traumatic experience that can be incredibly hard to deal with emotionally, but it can also cause significant practical problems, especially where you were financially dependent on the deceased.

Our fatal accident solicitors can help you pursue compensation, helping to give you the financial security you need to rebuild your life and ensure you and your loved ones are provided for. With over 30 years’ experience, we can make the claims process as simple, straightforward and stress-free as possible, allowing you to focus on dealing with your loss and supporting your family.

We understand how sensitive these cases are and our lawyers will support you with compassion and care. As well as helping you pursue a fatal accident claim, we can also offer assistance with urgent practical issues, such as where there are small children who have been left behind and need urgent help to sort out their living situation and other care requirements.

Our team of experts will be able to explain the various types of financial awards you and your family may be entitled to. Where we believe you have grounds to a claim, we will provide an honest assessment of your chances, the amount of compensation you may be able to secure and the process involved so you can make an informed choice about how to proceed.

We offer a no win, no fee fatal accident claims service for the majority of our clients, mean you will not need to worry about how to fund your claim when deciding whether to pursue compensation. We can also normally achieve a settlement without the need for court action, allowing us to achieve a faster resolution at lower cost and with much less stress for you.

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If you have lost a loved one in an accident and want to find out more about your legal rights, speak to one of our fatal accidents claims solicitors today by contacting your local Devonalds office.

Our fatal accident claims service

Our fatal accident claims lawyers help people in Rhondda Cynon Taff and throughout South Wales to pursue a variety of types of compensation and other financial entitlements where a loved one has died as a result of an accident.

Our expertise includes:

Statutory Bereavement Awards – This may be payable to you if the deceased (the person who lost their life in the accident) was your husband, wife or civil partner. It may also be payable if your child lost their life in an accident and they were under the age of 18 at the time of their unfortunate passing.

Dependency claims – Under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976, the dependants of the deceased may be able to bring a claim against the person or organisation found to be liable for the accident.

Who is responsible will usually have been determined already at an Inquest, but you will still need expert legal help to establish whether you are eligible to be considered a dependent and how much you may be able to claim.

Things you may be able to claim for as a dependant include:

• Loss of income (including the prospect of future income)
• Loss of services provided by the deceased
• Loss of other benefits e.g. access to a company car
• Loss of expected gifts
• General costs incurred because of the death
• Funeral expenses (depending on the circumstances)

No win, no fee fatal accident claims

Most of our clients work with us on a no win, no fee basis (also known as a ‘conditional fee agreement’) meaning you will not need to pay us anything to start a claim and will only pay our fees if we secure compensation for you.

Where your claim is successful, the fees you pay us will be based on a percentage of the compensation achieved. In many cases, some of the costs of a claim can be recovered from the defendant, reducing your costs even further.

Please speak to a member of our team to discuss the possibility of a no win, no fee fatal accident claim, or to explore other options, such as legal expenses insurance funded claims.

Common questions about fatal accident claims

Who can make a fatal accident claim?

Depending on the circumstances, you may be able to make a fatal accident claim if you are the deceased’s:

• Husband, wife or civil partner
• Parent, child or other dependant of the deceased

We can advise you on your eligibility to make a claim and what sort of compensation you may be able to apply for.

What is the time limit to make a fatal accident claim?

You will typically have 3 years from the date of death to make a fatal accident claim. This time limit may be affected if the deceased survived for a period after the accident and if the death occurred on water or in the air, the time limit is normally 2 years.

Do you need to go to court to claim fatal accident compensation?

In most cases, a fatal accident claim will be resolved outside of a court, either by negotiation with the responsible party or through alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods, such as mediation.

This not only tends to make it much faster and less expensive to achieve a settlement, but it is usually normally much less stressful and emotionally draining at an already difficult time.

However, we are highly experienced at pursuing claims through the courts, so if court action is required to achieve a fair outcome, we can provide the skilled advocacy you need to secure a fair result.

Does winning fatal accident compensation affect means-tested benefits?

This is a common concern that can be addressed by placing any compensation received into a personal injury trust. This allows you to benefit from the pay-out, while not affecting your entitlement to means-tested state benefits, such as housing benefit, disabled person’s tax credit and income support.

Our trusts solicitors can guide you through the process of creating and managing a trust, making it simple and stress-free to plan for the future following a successful fatal accident claim.

Why choose Devonalds fatal accident claims solicitors?

At Devonalds we offer a friendly, empathetic fatal accident claims service for people in the Rhondda Cynon Taff area and throughout South Wales from our offices in Bridgend, Caerphilly, Church Village, Pontypridd, Talbot Green, Tonypandy, Treorchy and Tylorstown.

We understand that our clients need more than just legal support and we can help connect you with relevant charities and various other types of support, helping to ensure you have everything you need to aid your recovery and give you and your family the best possible quality of life.

Devonalds is accredited by the Law Society for Personal Injury Law in recognition of our particular expertise in this area. We also have strong expertise in areas such as Wills, Trusts and Lasting Powers of Attorney, so can help you effectively plan for the future, including the most efficient way to manage fatal accident compensation.

Get in touch with our fatal accident solicitors in Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taff and the surrounding area

If a loved one has died as a result of an accident that was not their fault, our fatal accident claims solicitors can help you claim compensation. Find out more about starting a claim by contacting your local Devonalds office.