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Memorial Insurance
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The work of the Coroner Contents
Page
The Coroner
The coroner is a person responsible for investigating
certain deaths.
The coroner will:
- not
take any action if the cause of of death falls outside his guidelines.
- Probably
arrange for a post-mortem examination of the body.
The consent of the relatives is not needed for this, but they can
choose a doctor to be present. It
may be important to know the cause of the death accurately
- Issue
a Pink Form for the Registrar of Births and Deaths, if the post-mortem
shows that death was due to natural causes. He may send this direct to the registrar or give it to
you to deliver
- Hold
an inquest if the death was:
-
violent; or
-
caused by an accident; or
-
caused by an industrial disease; or
-
if, after post-mortem examination, the cause of death remains uncertain
An inquest is an enquiry into the medical cause and
circumstance of death. It is held
in public, and is sometimes with a jury. It
is up to the coroner how to organise the enquiry in a way to best serve the
public interest and the interests of the relatives.
Relatives can attend and ask questions of witnesses with
the coroner’s permission, or be represented by a lawyer. It may be important to have a lawyer to represent you if
death was caused by a road accident or accident at work, which could lead to a
claim for compensation. But you
cannot get legal aid for this.
The coroner will also:
- Give
free of charge, an order for burial or a certificate for cremation;
- Send
a certificate-after inquest to the registrar, stating the cause of
death;
- Give,
on request, a letter confirming the fact of death, if his enquiries are
likely to take some time, for social security and insurance benefit
purposes;
- Give
permission for the body to be removed out of England and Wales.
(This permission has to be obtained in every case where the funeral
is to take place outside England and Wales, and not just where the death has
been reported to the coroner);
- Pay
for the removal of a body from the place of death to the mortuary for
post-mortem examination. If
possible, the funeral director to be used will be chosen by the relatives.
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