Key legal issue: Can a widow claim damages for loss of financial support when she has inherited the very pension pot that funded her late husband's income? The Court of Session says no - if the income-producing asset passes to the survivor intact, there is no loss to compensate in the first place, regardless of a Damages (Scotland) Act 2011 provision that says inherited assets shouldn't normally reduce a dependency claim.

A widow whose husband died in a head-on collision on Christmas Day cannot claim for loss of financial support, because she inherited the pension fund that had paid for the couple's lifestyle, the Court of Session has ruled.

The judgment in Gail Buckley and others v Alan Budzynski and UK Insurance Ltd [2026] CSOH 87, handed down by Lord Malcolm on 15 September, resolves the last disputed point in an otherwise settled fatal accident claim.

David Buckley, a retired airline pilot, was killed on 25 December 2024 when Alan Budzynski, attempting an unsafe overtake, crashed head-on into his motorbike. UK Insurance Ltd, which insured Budzynski's car, accepted liability, and most of the family's claims settled without a hearing. The sticking point was Mrs Buckley's claim for loss of support, based on 75% of the drawdowns her husband would have taken from his St James's Place retirement pot over the next two decades. That pot passed to her tax-free on his death.

Mrs Buckley argued that section 8(1)(a) of the Damages (Scotland) Act 2011 required the court to ignore what she'd inherited when assessing her loss. UK Insurance Ltd argued she'd lost nothing at all, since the same income-generating assets simply passed to her.

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Lord Malcolm agreed with the insurer, drawing on the English Court of Appeal's approach in Paramount Shopfitting Company Ltd v Rix [2021] EWCA Civ 1172. The reasoning: before any deduction rules apply, a claimant must first show a loss actually occurred. Passive investment income travels with the asset that produces it unlike income from a deceased's own labour or skill, which does stop at death. Since every income-producing asset passed straight to Mrs Buckley and her husband had no other income source, he found "she has suffered no loss of financial support," and absolved the insurer of that part of the claim.

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For claims teams, the case is a reminder to check whether a genuine loss exists before arguing over what can be deducted from it — a question that matters equally under the equivalent English regime, the Fatal Accidents Act 1976.

UK Insurance Ltd, now part of Aviva's general insurance business since its July 2025 takeover of Direct Line Group, has faced several other closely watched motor claims disputes this year, including an ongoing High Court fraud fight over a £2.5 million settlement.

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Mrs Buckley can appeal. The court has given the parties six weeks to settle the remaining claim by agreement before listing a further hearing.