When we hear about an accident, we often think of the person who was directly involved, the primary victim. But what about the people who weren’t physically hurt but were there to witness the traumatic event?
These individuals are known as secondary victims, and under specific circumstances, they may be able to claim compensation for the psychological harm they have suffered.
What is a Secondary Victim Claim?
A secondary victim is someone who witnesses a distressing accident involving another person and, as a direct result, suffers a diagnosable psychiatric illness.
While a primary victim is directly injured in an accident that was not their fault, a secondary victim is a witness who endures mental and emotional harm from seeing the incident unfold.
For example, imagine a pedestrian who witnesses a car accident where a driver is seriously injured. The pedestrian is not physically involved, but the shock of seeing the crash causes them to develop a severe psychological condition.
This person could potentially be considered a secondary victim.
The Impact on Mental Health
To make a secondary victim claim, the psychological impact must be significant enough to be recognised as a clinical psychiatric condition.
Simple stress or distress is not enough; the symptoms must be severe and persistent, diagnosed by a medical professional, such as a Consultant Psychiatrist.
The most common diagnosis in these cases is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but other conditions like panic disorder or adjustment disorder may also apply.
If you are struggling with the emotional aftermath of a traumatic event, your health is the most important thing. It is crucial to seek help.
Speaking with your GP or a mental health professional is the first and most critical step you can take.
The Legal Test for a Secondary Victim Claim
The law governing these claims is based on specific legal precedents. The landmark case of Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police established a strict legal test that a claimant must satisfy. This is not a simple process, and each case is unique.
Based on this and other subsequent cases, here are the key criteria the courts use to evaluate a secondary victim claim:
- Foreseeability: It must be foreseeable that a person of “normal fortitude” or “ordinary phlegm” would suffer a psychiatric injury from the shock of the event.
- Close Relationship: There must be a close relationship of love and affection between the primary and secondary victims. This is a critical point; simply being a bystander is often not enough.
- Proximity: The secondary victim must be nearby, both in time and space, to the traumatic event or its immediate aftermath.
- Sudden Shock: The psychiatric injury must be caused by a “sudden and unexpected shock” from seeing or hearing the incident itself or its immediate aftermath.
- Recognised Injury: The victim must have a professionally diagnosed psychiatric illness.
Navigating these legal requirements can be complex, and it is essential to get expert advice to understand your options.
Frequently asked questions:
How do I make a claim?
Before deciding on whether making a claim is the best option for you, it is important to seek initial legal advice. Here at Oakwood Solicitors, we offer a free assessment and would be happy to discuss with you whether we think there are merits to an action.
If you find a Solicitor who is of the view that your claim does have merit, then it is important to also consider the impact on your health of taking a claim forward may have.
Litigation can be a stressful process and may hurt your health. We are not doctors, so we cannot give you medical advice, but we are under a duty to advise you that pursuing a claim will be a reminder of the stress that led to your psychiatric condition whilst the claim is ongoing.
Please also note that the only outcome of a successful claim is financial compensation. You may see the litigation as a mechanism for obtaining answers, but the majority of cases settle out of Court, which may result in many of your questions remaining unanswered.
You may be advised by your doctors that you will only be able to make a good recovery from your illness once you can move on from the issues in question. The litigation may therefore delay your recovery. The decision to proceed must be your own in conjunction with your medical advisors.
If you agree to proceed with a claim, then our team will be happy to explain the process in further detail with you.
How much is my claim worth?
One of the legal requirements is evidencing that not only have you suffered with symptoms of poor mental health, but that those symptoms meet (or have previously met) the clinical criteria for a recognised psychiatric condition.
If so, you would be able to claim compensation known as general damages – this is an award of money for the pain and suffering you have endured as a result of the negligence.
Assuming that the symptoms do meet the necessary criteria, then the Court uses guidance called the Judicial Studies Board Guidelines (JCG) as a starting point, which considers the following:
- The injured person’s ability to cope with life and work.
- The effect on the injured person’s relationships with family, friends, and those with whom he or she comes into contact.
- The extent to which treatment would be successful.
- Future vulnerability.
- Prognosis.
- Whether medical help has been sought.
The relevant section of the JCG, which covers claims for psychiatric injuries, has 4 brackets of compensation as follows:
- Less severe: usually where the duration of symptoms is usually less than 12 months and the extent to which the symptoms have affected someone’s daily activities and sleep is low level (£1,440.00 – £5,500.00).
- Moderate: usually where the symptoms have affected someone’s daily activities, life, work, and relationships, but where the medical evidence opines that good progress towards a recovery will be made by the time of the Trial. The extent to which treatment will assist in the recovery of symptoms, together with someone’s future vulnerability to relapse, is also considered in this bracket. (£5,500.00 – £17,900.00)
- Moderately severe: usually where the symptoms amount to a disability affecting someone’s life on a permanent or long-standing basis, preventing a return to comparable employment. (£17,900.00 – £51,460.00)
- Severe: the most extreme of cases where the outlook for someone’s recovery is abysmal (£51,460.00 – £108,620.00).
Although every claim is different, most cases of this nature fall within either the moderate or moderately severe categories.
The Court also considers similar cases that have been to a Trial to determine where within the above brackets of compensation a case in particular may fall.
Separately from the above, if a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is made, then the Court has additional guidance.
Secondly, and in addition to general damages, you can pursue compensation known as special damages – this is an award of money for all of your out-of-pocket expenses, such as loss of earnings, travel expenses, medication costs, treatment costs, etc. You can claim both past losses and any anticipated future losses. This list is not exhaustive and is very case-specific.
Will I have to go to court?
If the case did not settle, then ultimately the matter would proceed to Court, where a Judge would decide. Most cases, however, do settle out of Court, so although this is an unlikely eventuality, we cannot rule it out as an impossibility.
If you do have any concerns about this during the process of your claim, then we would be happy to discuss this with you and address any concerns you may have.
How would my case be funded?
There can be several ways to fund your legal fees. Subject to individual assessment, the most common method to fund a claim of this nature is by way of a Conditional Fee Agreement, which is often referred to as a No Win No Fee Agreement.
This means that if the claim is unsuccessful, then you will not have to pay us anything towards our costs, subject to compliance with the terms and conditions of the agreement in place.
If we are able to help, we can explain this further to you and also other ways to fund your claim if a ‘No-Win, No-Fee’ option is not suitable for you.
Why use Oakwood Solicitors Ltd to help with my secondary victim claim?
Claims for psychiatric injury are an overly complex area of law, and here at Oakwood Solicitors, we have a dedicated and specialised team to help.
With the majority of the team qualifying for mental health (a TQUK Level 2 Certificate in Awareness of Mental Health Problems), we fully appreciate the difficulties those suffering from a mental health illness may face.
We are here to help and will carry out a free assessment with no obligation to take forward a claim.
Further information:
Oakwood Solicitors: Secondary Victim Claims.
LexisNexis: Secondary victim definition.
WHAT TO DO NEXT
If you have suffered in the position of being a secondary victim, get in touch today for a no-obligation consultation.
Choose one of the methods on the right-hand side of this page or call us on 0113 486 2492.
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Emily-Mae Pearson joined Oakwood Solicitors in April 2025. Emily-Mae is a Paralegal working within the Road Traffic Accident team.
Before joining the team, she graduated from the University of Law …
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