Death at work - Scotland

[Scotsguy85]

Hi, Almost 2 years ago, a family member of mine had a fatal accident at work. At the time, my insurance company appointed a solicitor to deal with everything legal. However, late 2022, the insurers cancelled my policy, and therefore all support from solicitors due to an error in my application (ticked No instead of Yes when asked about any previous liquidation) Since then i have been on my own. Due to the continual invoices coming from Health and Safety Executive (nearing £30k) i soon found the company operating as insolvent. At that point i took advice and ultimately, liquidated the business in early 2023. The last i heard from anyone was March 2023 when HSE announced their findings and what was being submitted to the Procurator Fiscal. Last week, the case reared its head again when one of my employees was asked to go in for an additional Witness Statement. It's now got me thinking its about time i got some legal representation, so i am not going in on this on my own. So far the info i have received is - legal aid is not available for business cases like this. Costs of a solicitor could easily go into 10s of £1000, and maybe even 6 figures should an advocate be required. My "best" hope is that they prosecute me personally, so i could potentially get Legal Aid to cover myself (rather than the business) As it stands, i have a family of 6, and i am living off Tax Credits. Quick sums online show i should qualify for Legal Aid. Looking to see if anyone has any further advice or help. As an end note, the family of the deceased all accept the fatal accident was his own wrongdoing, as much as HSE are trying to find things wrong about the business. Not sure if that carries any weight, but worth noting.