Abstract:
The Accident Compensation Act 1972 introduced to New Zealand a revolutionary compensation scheme for personal injury by accident. This thesis deals with one aspect of the scheme: the compensation given to dependants in fatal accident claims.
A number of fatal accident claims were studied to provide insights into the effect of a death in a family and to ascertain whether the assistance given under the Accident Compensation Act 1972 met the needs of those dependants.
The existing legislation in the Accident Compensation Act 1972 was also examined and analysed to point out various deficiencies and contradictions in the legislation.
The thesis makes numerous recommendations for new legislation and a new approach to assisting the bereaved.