What loss of support actually means
You keep hearing about loss of support and want to know what it actually 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 element of the claim, though not the only one.
What it is not
It is easy to lump loss of support together with funeral expenses and the bereavement award. All three appear within the same dependency claim. Funeral expenses cover the practical costs of burial or cremation.
The bereavement award is a separate, fixed statutory sum. Loss of support is neither of these. It specifically addresses the ongoing support the family has lost.
A plain way to picture it
Imagine a family that relied on one parent’s income for daily living, school fees and household costs. Loss of support looks at what portion of that income genuinely reached the family. It does not look at what the deceased earned in total, since some of any income goes toward a person’s own living expenses.
Why “support” is broader than a fixed salary
Support does not need to come from a single formal salary to count. Income from a family business or freelance work can also count. What matters is that the family genuinely relied on it, and that it can be shown clearly.
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] Some families mistakenly hold back from claiming because they assume otherwise. That caution is not necessary.
Where to go for the full method
This page explains what loss of support means. How a dependency claim works explains how it is actually 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.
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)