Reactionary statement following inflationary increase to bereavement damages

APIL president Gordon Dalyell said: “An inflationary increase to statutory bereavement damages in England and Wales is not good enough. The Government has taken only the smallest of steps to improve the law in this area, and it simply is not enough. The Government must stop treating bereavement damages as a ‘token’. These damages are supposed to acknowledge that a life has been lost needlessly. The inflationary increase is still only a derisory sum, nor does it recognise that the impact of the loss of a loved one cannot be one size fits all. It is long overdue for England, Wales and Northern Ireland to adopt the Scottish system of assessing each claim on a case-by-case basis.”