Secondary Victim Claims

What is a Secondary Victim Claim?

In Scotland, the law recognises secondary victims in personal injury claims, not just those directly injured (primary victim).

If you’ve witnessed a traumatic accident involving a loved one and have had to seek medical advice on your mental health following the accident, then we may be able to help you.

Legal test for Secondary Victim Claims

For a claim as a secondary victim to succeed the following conditions must be met:

• There must be a close tie of love and affection between the Claimant and the primary victim.
• The death or injury to the primary victim must have been caused by an accident, defined as violent, external means.
• The Claimant must have been present at the accident scene or immediate aftermath.
• The psychiatric injury to the secondary victim must be medically recognised.

How much compensation could I receive?

As detailed above, one of the legal requirements is proving that you have you suffered a recognised psychological injury as a direct consequence of what you witnessed. Claims for psychiatric damage are categorised in the Judicial Studies Board Guidelines and consider:

• The injured person’s ability to cope with life and work;
• The effect on the injured person’s relationships with family, friends, and those with whom he or she comes into contact;
• The extent to which treatment would be successful;
• Future vulnerability;
• Prognosis;
• Whether medical help has been sought.

The relevant section of the guidelines which covers claims for psychiatric injuries has 4 brackets of compensation as follows:

Less severe – usually where the duration of symptoms are less than 12 months and the extent to which the symptoms have affected someone’s daily activities and sleep is low level (£1,440.00 – £5,500.00);

Moderate – usually where the symptoms have affected someone’s daily activities, life, work, and relationships, but where the medical evidence shows that good progress towards a recovery will be made by the time of Trial. The extent to which treatment will assist in the recovery of symptoms together with someone’s future vulnerability to relapse, is also considered in this bracket. (£5,500.00 – £17,900.00);Psychiatric trauma

Moderately severe – usually where the symptoms amount to a disability affecting someone’s life in a permanent or long-standing way preventing a return to comparable employment. (£17,900.00 – £51,460.00);

Severe – the most extreme of cases, where the outlook for someone’s recovery is extremely poor (£51,460.00 – £108,620.00).

Although every claim is different, most cases fall within either the moderate or moderately severe categories.

Why use Motorcycle Law Scotland to help with my Secondary Victim claim?

Claims for psychiatric injury is a complex area of law and here at Motorcycle Law Scotland, we have a dedicated and specialised team available to help.

We will carry out a free assessment with no obligation to take forward a claim.

Previous cases where we have helped clients recover compensation.

A motorcyclist was seriously injured on his way home. Around his expected arrival time, his wife received a call from his mobile. It was a stranger to say that her husband had been involved in an accident. Fearing the worst, his wife jumped into her car to make the short journey to the accident scene calling her husband’s parents to notify them on her way. All three suffered psychological trauma and were compensated by the at fault driver’s insurance company. As part of the settlement, a claim was made for psychological sessions to help the secondary victims recover from PTSD.

In another case, a husband had taken a motorcycle for a test ride. His wife heard sirens a short time later and made her way in her car round a route she knew her husband might have been on. She came upon an accident, recognised the motorcycle as the one her husband had been riding and persuaded the police to let her through. Her husband had been very seriously injured and because of what she witnessed she suffered psychological trauma. She received compensation to include the cost of treatment that is not readily available on the NHS.

We have tragically acted for family members who have witnessed a loved one’s passing at the scene of an accident and it’s difficult to even comprehend what they go through. What is important is that the legal system in Scotland will compensate secondary victims and as part of that process third party insurance companies will pay for private treatment to help with recovery.

It’s often difficult to talk about your own trauma when a loved one has been killed or injured, but it is important you do as we are here to listen and help guide you through the unknown.