The employee had died 20 days after having surgery, having been dismissed five days before the surgery on the basis that he was not physically capable of work. Under his contract, he would have been entitled to £85,000 in death-in-service benefits if still employed.

However, the judge found that approximately £350 was payable to his dependants for the loss of his statutory rights following dismissal. The deceased's father appealed against the manner in which this value was assessed. When bringing proceedings an applicant should obtain authorisation under the Employment Rights Act 1996 s.206(4). the former employee's father failed to follow this process and instead he included an application with his claim form but was appointed as the deceased's representative outside the three-month time limit for bringing a claim.

However, the employment judge treated the proceedings as duplicate proceedings brought within a reasonable time, on the basis that it had not been reasonably practicable for F to have presented the claim in time. An appeal was allowed. The loss of death-in-service benefits was one of substance and not merely of emotional significance. The fact that an employee could never himself enjoy the benefit did not mean that a loss of the right to require that such a benefit should be paid should not be regarded as a real loss. The loss of death-in-service benefits was to be treated as a real loss on which a value in monetary terms could be placed. http://bit.ly/IPokf