Negligence – psychiatric injury
Negligence – psychiatric Injury
If psychiatric injury needs to be discussed, this can be included after considering ‘damage’.
Psychiatric injury – this is also known as ‘nervous shock’. It is a long-term mental injury (more than
‘shock’ or ‘grief’).
The ability for people to claim for psychiatric injury has been limited due to policy reasons i.e., trying
to ensure there is not a floodgate of claims.
Primary victims
- These are claimants that were directly involved in the accident.
- They will need to:
1. Prove that the defendant was negligent.
2. Support their claim with medical evidence.
Secondary victims
- These are claimants that are not directly involved in an accident but suffer a mental injury
because of what they have seen or heard.
- They will need to:
1. Prove that the defendant was negligent.
2. Support their claim with medical evidence.
3. Satisfy the Alcock criteria.
4. Satisfy the threshold test.
The distinction between primary and secondary victims was defined in Page v Smith (1995). This
case also discussed that psychiatric injury would be viewed as personal injury providing it was
reasonably foreseeable.
Page v Smith (1995)
- The claimant suffered with ME. He was in recovery of this disease when he was involved in a
minor car accident due to the defendant’s negligence.
- The claimant was not physically injured but the accident triggered his ME again, which was
now chronic and permanent. The claimant was unable to return to his job as a teacher.
- On appeal, the Courts discussed that providing the injury was reasonably foreseeable, it did
not matter whether the injury was physical or psychiatric. The claimant was successful at
trial and was awarded £162,000 in damages.
Medical evidence is needed to demonstrate a mental injury – primary and secondary victims.
The mental injury that is being claimed for will need to be medically evidence ed. The mental harm
caused will need to be sufficiently serious to show that the claimant is badly affected i.e., as a long
term impact.
The mental injury must come from a sudden event.
Examples of psychiatric injuries that are usually covered include:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Reactive depression
- Acute anxiety
Early development of the rules on psychiatric injury:
- Initially, claims could only be made if the claimant suffered mental injury because they
feared for their own safety.
- Over time, this stance has repeatedly been extended and reduced.
Negligence – psychiatric Injury
If psychiatric injury needs to be discussed, this can be included after considering ‘damage’.
Psychiatric injury – this is also known as ‘nervous shock’. It is a long-term mental injury (more than
‘shock’ or ‘grief’).
The ability for people to claim for psychiatric injury has been limited due to policy reasons i.e., trying
to ensure there is not a floodgate of claims.
Primary victims
- These are claimants that were directly involved in the accident.
- They will need to:
1. Prove that the defendant was negligent.
2. Support their claim with medical evidence.
Secondary victims
- These are claimants that are not directly involved in an accident but suffer a mental injury
because of what they have seen or heard.
- They will need to:
1. Prove that the defendant was negligent.
2. Support their claim with medical evidence.
3. Satisfy the Alcock criteria.
4. Satisfy the threshold test.
The distinction between primary and secondary victims was defined in Page v Smith (1995). This
case also discussed that psychiatric injury would be viewed as personal injury providing it was
reasonably foreseeable.
Page v Smith (1995)
- The claimant suffered with ME. He was in recovery of this disease when he was involved in a
minor car accident due to the defendant’s negligence.
- The claimant was not physically injured but the accident triggered his ME again, which was
now chronic and permanent. The claimant was unable to return to his job as a teacher.
- On appeal, the Courts discussed that providing the injury was reasonably foreseeable, it did
not matter whether the injury was physical or psychiatric. The claimant was successful at
trial and was awarded £162,000 in damages.
Medical evidence is needed to demonstrate a mental injury – primary and secondary victims.
The mental injury that is being claimed for will need to be medically evidence ed. The mental harm
caused will need to be sufficiently serious to show that the claimant is badly affected i.e., as a long
term impact.
The mental injury must come from a sudden event.
Examples of psychiatric injuries that are usually covered include:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Reactive depression
- Acute anxiety
Early development of the rules on psychiatric injury:
- Initially, claims could only be made if the claimant suffered mental injury because they
feared for their own safety.
- Over time, this stance has repeatedly been extended and reduced.
