Knauer v Ministry of Justice

In assessing damages for wrongful death, loss of domestic services is compensable by reference to the value of the services lost. The claimant need not prove that replacement services were actually purchased. The court may consider what has happened since the death when assessing future loss, but that does not displace the basic entitlement to recover the pecuniary value of the loss.

For Fatal Accidents Act claims, the conventional multiplier method remained binding. A multiplier was therefore calculated from the date of death, including accelerated receipt discount for future loss, although the judge considered the alternative approach logically preferable.

Sally Knauer died from mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure during her employment at Guy’s Marsh Prison. Her widower, as administrator of her estate, brought claims against the Ministry of Justice. Liability was admitted, and the hearing concerned assessment of damages.

The principal disputes concerned the multiplier for income and services dependency, whether damages were recoverable for domestic services which had not been replaced by paid help, the appropriate cost of replacement services, and several subsidiary heads of loss.

1. Damages assessed. The claimant recovered total damages of £642,972.51, excluding interest. The principal awards included £80,000 for pain, suffering and loss of amenity, £23,182 for past income dependency, £82,136 for future income dependency, £88,160 for past services dependency and £329,241 for future services dependency.
2. Multiplier. The conventional method of calculating the Fatal Accidents Act multiplier remained binding under Cookson v Knowles [1979] AC 556 and Graham v Dodds [1983] 1 WLR 808. The judge considered it illogical to discount past loss for accelerated receipt, and would have adopted the Law Commission’s alternative approach if free to do so. He nevertheless applied the conventional method.
3. Services dependency. A claimant is entitled to the pecuniary value of domestic services lost through a spouse’s death, whether or not replacement services are purchased. The fact that the surviving spouse manages without paid assistance does not defeat the claim. The judge applied the principle stated in Hay v Hughes [1975] QB 790. The award should reflect reasonable replacement services, but the defendant was not required to fund a resident housekeeper where broadly similar services could be obtained through an agency.
4. The court applied the established dependency-ratio approach in Coward v Comex Houlder Diving Ltd [1988] EWCA Civ 18 and Crabtree v Wilson [1993] PIQR Q24. It also applied the principle concerning future services loss in Daly v General Steam Navigation Ltd [1981] 1 WLR 120.
5. The claim for wake or reception expenses was refused in accordance with Gammell v Wilson [1982] AC 27. Interest was to be agreed at the stated rates.