Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Keating v Abdisalan: LR(MP)A 1934 bars survival of FAA 1976 bereavement claims; no services dependency where dependant dies before loss (England and Wales)

Published on: 17 October 2025

Published by a LexisNexis PI & Clinical Negligence expert

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Article summary

Keating (as Administrator of the Estate and on behalf of the dependants of Geraldine Mary Catherine Theresa Birtles) v Abdisalan and another [2025] EWHC 1926 (KB) What are the practical implications of this case?

A bereavement claim cannot be advanced by an estate: section 1A of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934 bars it on statutory grounds. Pressing such a plea hands the defendant victory and exposes the claimant to adverse costs. A dependency claim is more nuanced but, on these facts, is likewise unavailable. The decisive enquiry is whether the claimant has, or will, actually suffer the loss. If death occurs before that loss arises—even where the same negligence caused the fatal accident—the hypothetical, projected loss that would have been experienced had they lived is not recoverable. Although the court wrestled more with the legal analysis on dependency, that outcome appears less morally contentious. Accordingly, representatives should not pursue bereavement claims, and recognise that dependency losses require actual, not imagined, deprivation...

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