Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Apportionment among dependants

Legal area

Court

26 Jun 2015

CHEUNG SAU LIN v. HONTRADE ENGINEERING LTD

Citation

CHEUNG SAU LIN v. HONTRADE ENGINEERING LTD
Court

District Court
Case number

DCEC643/2014

Liability was established because the death occurred in the course of employment and the Ordinance applies extraterritorially; statutory calculation under section 6 and the Sixth Schedule yields compensation of HK$1,414,800 (60 x HK$23,580) which is less than 60 months' earnings; credit is given for HK$846,400 already paid by the respondent while an unrelated RMB500,000 is not credited; the respondent must therefore pay the balance of HK$568,400, plus interest from the date of the accident at half the judgment rate, and costs of the proceedings of HK$137,548; the award is apportioned 50% to t…
10 Apr 2014

HSE FEI LUN v. SO SUK YEE

Citation

HSE FEI LUN v. SO SUK YEE
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCPI606/2012

Order 80 rule 15 applies not only to cases involving persons under a disability but to all cases where more than one dependant claims under the FAO and to cases joining FAO and LARCO claims; therefore the court must determine apportionment of damages among dependants even where all dependants are adults; apportionment may be disposed on paper if a memorandum is agreed, or otherwise by a short hearing, and costs of contested apportionment should normally be borne by unsuccessful dependants.
25 Jul 2007

CHAN SIU KAI v. HOP CHUNG CARRIAGE CO LTD

Citation

CHAN SIU KAI v. HOP CHUNG CARRIAGE CO LTD
Court

District Court
Case number

DCEC71/2006

On the balance of probabilities the court accepted evidence that the deceased's average monthly earnings for compensation purposes were HK$9,000; applying section 6(1)(a) the period of dependency was 84 months producing HK$756,000 and, applying section 6(5) and the Sixth Schedule, funeral expenses capped at HK$35,000, giving total compensation HK$791,000; the court apportioned the award among identified family members and ordered interest and costs accordingly.
29 May 2007

WONG TAI TAI v. TO CHI MING AND ANOTHER

Citation

WONG TAI TAI v. TO CHI MING AND ANOTHER
Court

District Court
Case number

DCEC1409/2006

Judge found average monthly earnings at time of accident were $17,000 (sum of $13,000 regular earnings and $4,000 from respondents), applied s6(1)(B) to compute 60 months = $1,020,000, awarded funeral expenses of $33,901 (within the $35,000 cap), ordered total aggregate award of $1,053,901, apportioned 50% of the lump sum to the spouse plus funeral expenses and the remaining 50% equally among three children, and ordered interest and costs as specified.
20 Mar 2007

TING KAM YUEN v. VIATECH ENGINEERING LTD AND ANOTHER

Citation

TING KAM YUEN v. VIATECH ENGINEERING LTD AND ANOTHER
Court

District Court
Case number

DCEC243/2004

On uncontested evidence and contemporaneous admissions and documents (work permits, payroll, tax returns, Forms 2 and correspondence) the court found Viatech Engineering Ltd was the employer of the eight deceased and Zen Pacific Civil Contractors Ltd was the principal contractor; the accident occurred in the course of employment and thus arose out of employment by statutory presumption; compensation was payable under s.6 calculated from stated monthly earnings and apportioned among dependants under Schedule 7; interest and costs ordered; indemnity claim between respondents to be heard subsequ…
23 Apr 2002

CHAN YI HUNG v. YEUNG CHUN PONG ANDREW

Citation

CHAN YI HUNG v. YEUNG CHUN PONG ANDREW
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCPI1496/2000

The court accepted the plaintiff's unchallenged factual evidence, assessed parental dependency at $2,300 per month with a 12 years purchase multiplier, awarded specific sums for pre-trial and post-trial dependency, bereavement, loss of accumulation and funeral expenses, apportioned $5,000 to the brother, ordered the award subject to the Director of Legal Aid's first charge and directed costs to the plaintiff.
14 Jun 1985

CHEUNG, LINDA AND OTHERS v. CHOI LIN KIU AND ANOTHER

Citation

CHEUNG, LINDA AND OTHERS v. CHOI LIN KIU AND ANOTHER
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA6887/1984

The court accepted the plaintiffs' method of computing the multiplicand by applying the 1984 estimated monthly earnings and proportionately scaled 1983 household expenditure, adopted a monthly multiplicand of HK$3,509, a multiplier of 14, allowed 5% notional savings, and awarded total damages of HK$691,010 with specified interest rates and apportionment under intestacy rules.
16 Jun 1978

LAM NAI YAN AND OTHERS v. LEE SHU CHOI AND ANTOHER

Citation

LAM NAI YAN AND OTHERS v. LEE SHU CHOI AND ANTOHER
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA915/1978

Liability being established, the court quantified damages: general dependency loss assessed at $1,600 per month (multiplicand) with a multiplier of 9 producing general damages of $172,800; special damages for the deceased of $15,450; loss of expectation of life $10,000 (to merge with Fatal Accidents award); apportionment of general damages 80% to husband, 10% and 8% to two infant sons and 2% to mother; interest on special damages at 4% per annum from date of accident to hearing; for the injured plaintiff general damages $2,000 and special damages $10,519.40 with interest and costs to plaintif…
30 Sept 1977

CHAN MEI KAM v. HONG KONG TRAMWAYS LTD AND ANOTHER

Citation

CHAN MEI KAM v. HONG KONG TRAMWAYS LTD AND ANOTHER
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA164/1977

On uncontested evidence the court fixed dependency at $1,200 per month (taking into account likely salary increases but discounting speculative promotion), applied a multiplier of 8 given the deceased's age, health and probable continuation of work, awarded $115,200 under the Fatal Accidents Ordinance apportioned among dependants, awarded $10,000 under Cap.23 for loss of expectation of life, reduced funeral expenses to $5,010.40, and applied interest at 4% on special damages and 8% on general damages.
1 Sept 1975

LIU SHIU KEUNG t/a KEUNG KEE TRANSPORTATION CO v. WONG BING SENG AND ANOTHER

Citation

LIU SHIU KEUNG t/a KEUNG KEE TRANSPORTATION CO v. WONG BING SENG AND ANOTHER
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA2069/1974

Court accepted plaintiffs' evidence to fix dependency at $700 per month, applied a multiplier of 14 for a 46-year-old healthy private bus driver to calculate a lump sum of $117,600 under the Fatal Accidents Ordinance (to be reduced by Workmen's Compensation paid); assessed $10,000 for loss of expectation of life and $3,155 funeral expenses under the Law Amendment and Reform (Consolidation) Ordinance (merging with general award), awarded $50 for clothing, directed interest at 4% on the $3,205 from 18 June 1973 and 8% on the Fatal Accidents award from 15 January 1975, and ordered costs to plain…