What loss of support actually means
Someone who paid the household bills has died and you want to know what this claim covers.
Loss of support is part of a dependency claim. It compensates a family for the financial support they would have continued to receive from someone who died, had the accident not happened. It is the central part of the claim, though not the only one.
What it is not
Loss of support is separate from funeral expenses and the bereavement award, although all three sit in the same dependency claim. Funeral expenses cover the costs of burial or cremation.
The bereavement award is a fixed statutory sum. Loss of support covers the ongoing support the family has lost.
A plain way to picture it
Take a family that relied on one parent’s income for daily living, school fees and household costs. Loss of support looks at the part of that income that reached the family. It does not use the total earned, because some income goes on a person’s own living costs.
Support is broader than a salary
Income from a family business or freelance work can also count. What matters is that the family relied on it and can show it.
What does not reduce this part of the claim
Money the family already received through insurance, the Employees Provident Fund or a pension is generally not deducted from this claim.[1] Families should not hold back from claiming because of it.
Where to go for the full method
How a dependency claim works explains how it is calculated for a specific family. Claiming after a fatal road accident sets out how it sits alongside funeral expenses, the bereavement award and the separate estate claim.
An independent lawyer can bring the claim for the dependants. Send the date and place of the accident, who relied on the person who died, and the police report status.
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Common questions
Is loss of support the same thing as the bereavement award?
No, they are different parts of the same claim. Loss of support compensates for the actual financial support lost, while the bereavement award is a separate, fixed statutory sum added on top of it.
Does loss of support include what the deceased spent on themselves?
No. The claim reflects what the family would have received, so an amount is deducted for what the deceased would have spent on their own living costs, since that portion never reached the family in the first place.
What if the deceased contributed in ways other than a salary, like unpaid caregiving?
Financial support is the focus of this specific claim, though how a family was supported can be shown through more than just a payslip, including business income or other contributions the family relied on.
We already received EPF money and insurance payouts. Does that reduce this claim?
Generally no. Money received through insurance, the Employees Provident Fund or a pension is not deducted from a dependency award, so having received it earlier does not reduce what the family can claim.
Sources
- Thomas Philip, on Civil Law Act 1956, s.7 (accessed 2026-09-22)
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