My husband suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. He is a train driver and someone jumped in front of?
Posted on Nov 13, 2008 under Post Traumatic Stress Disorder |his train, he also found a body on the line. The doctor diagnosed him with post traumatic stress disorder, can he claim personal injury compensation? We live in England
I can't decide on a best answer as they were all very helpful, thank you to everyone for your answers.
If both people were dead it will be pretty difficult since there is no one to sue. Personal injury comp is basically suing the other person for injuries you receive because of them.
April 20th, 2008 at 2:18 am
If both people were dead it will be pretty difficult since there is no one to sue. Personal injury comp is basically suing the other person for injuries you receive because of them.
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April 20th, 2008 at 2:24 am
He will probably be able to claim for victims injury compensation from the government.
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April 20th, 2008 at 2:28 am
No, there is no personal injury compensation complaint here. He could however be diagnosed with a severity that prevents him from working. Something like this could lapse a persons mind. Try getting regular psychiatric visits as counseling to cope with the stress and then apply for disability.
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paralegal researcher
April 20th, 2008 at 2:31 am
Hello,
(ANS) Sadly, I do tend to agree with the first respondent.
**The problem with the legal system here in the UK is that it is based upon an adversarial system. Which basically as far as I understand it means you have to be able to apportion blame to someone.
**However, if you are unable to blame someone or prove someone else was to blame then you don't have a case in law.
**in some cases it was possible to blame the employer, for example in the cases of miners or ex miners who suffered miners lung or died from miners lung.
**However, in this case I don't think you will be able to blame the employer for the actions of a person who chose to commit suicide in this way.
**My heart goes out to you & your husband because PTS is a very difficult condition to deal with and I cannot see how you can realistically claim any compensation given a very uniquely difficult set of circumstances, all I can say is life can be very cruel at times.
Kindest Regards from Ivan
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April 20th, 2008 at 2:40 am
He can get help from his trade union.
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April 20th, 2008 at 2:42 am
He can bring a claim against his employer for failing to deliver the correct level of aftercare, but he needs to do this within three years of the event
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April 20th, 2008 at 3:06 am
he will be able to claim something as he has suffered and its been diagnosed medically,so he has a case,i dont know what ,yous will have to speak to a solicitor,as it sounds because of the stress of the accident,your husband would need counciling etc,i wish yous well,peAce.
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April 20th, 2008 at 3:39 am
Looks like how his employer dealt with it is the best route for compensation, but he would have to prove that they were negligent and it seems like the majority of the psychological injury resulted from the event itself, so the amount you could claim from the company might not be worth the hassle. Also a claim can take a long time and might worsen his PTSD by having to go over the events repeatedly. Make sure he gets trauma/cognitive behaviour counselling to learn how to cope with the stress and anxiety when it is triggered. Could he get medical retirement from his company? Then maybe he could have an income from that and also do another job that was less stressful? Also read a book called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by David Kinchin.
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April 20th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
As with all things, the answer is possibly.
The only party against whom you could bring a claim is the estate of the jumper (i.e. the dead person) or the employer.
Of those two, only the latetr will be insured.
In order to bring a claim against the employer it will be necessary to prove legal fault.
The employer cannot be legall responsible for the fact someone jumped in front of a train.
Therefore the only possible route is failure to deal with the aftermath (eg absence of counselling etc.) to the point where it either brought the condition on or made in noticably worse.
I have no idea whether they dealt with thsi situation properly or not, but that is your only route to a legal claim.
On the bare facts outlined, your husband has little or no prospect of a claim in law.
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I'm a lawyer