Primary or Secondary Victim Claims Solicitors – No Win No Fee

Last week, it was reported that a claim made against Glasgow City Council, by a student who had suffered PTSD following the Glasgow bin lorry crash in 2014, had been unsuccessful. However, it was not absence of an injury, or a determination on the cause of the crash, which led to the claim for damages being refused. The personal injury court required to focus on the matter of determining whether the pursuer was a primary victim, and ultimately determined that she was not and, as such, had no entitlement to compensation.

The law draws a distinction between primary and secondary victims. A primary victim is someone who has been directly involved in an accident, whereas a secondary victim is someone who has witnessed the distressing events but has not been directly involved. An easy example would be the distinction which is drawn between the car driver and passenger involved in a road traffic collision, and the person who happened to witness the accident from their living room window overlooking the road. The witness has seen the events first hand and may be extremely distressed. However, even with evidence that they have suffered a psychiatric injury they will be viewed as a secondary victim and are unlikely to be entitled to compensation without further connection to the incident. The driver and the passenger are primary victims and can make a claim for both the physical and psychiatric injury they have suffered.

Despite the principles appearing simple, drawing the distinction between primary and secondary victims who have been present at the scene of a major incident can be much more difficult. As in the case of the bin lorry crash, situations can arise where individuals have been in close proximity to the accident but not sustained physical injury. If they suffer psychiatric injury, the difficult question must then be asked of whether this was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the negligent act. Where it is, such as where an individual has been at risk and in fear of physical harm, then it is possible for a claim to be made as a primary victim. Where it is not, the individual will generally be unable to succeed with a claim.

How can LPS help me?

We begin by assessing the particulars of your accident to ensure you are eligible to make a claim.

Our team then deploy our experience and expertise to help you collate details, gather witnesses and form the basis of your claim. As reputable and trusted personal injury lawyers, we have already helped a thousands of road accident victims get compensation for their suffering.

What to do now?

We suggest that you contact our expert team for a free no-obligation consultation. There is nothing to lose! If you are busy, you can click here to arrange a callback time or alternatively, you can call 08009961807 and ask to speak to our family department experts.