LONDON - The family of New Zealander Matthew Macaulay are still waiting on compensation for his death in London's 1999 Paddington train crash, though up to £750,000 ($2.54 million) has been paid out in another case.
Peter Macaulay, the dead man's father, said he was still negotiating with St Paul Insurance,the American-based company acting as lead insurer.
On Friday, St Paul said it had paid around £4 million to relatives of 20 people killed. Another 11 families were in negotiations, it said.
Matthew Macaulay, 27, and fellow Aucklander Allan Stewart, 28, were among 31 killed when two trains collided.
It is not known whether St Paul has settled with Mr Stewart's family in New Zealand.
The size of claims depended on whether the victims were married, had children, each victim's age and the likely loss in earnings. The average payments have been around £200,000.
"Basically everyone got the same initial offer, I think, of £100,000," said Peter Macaulay, who has moved to Britain in an effort to ensure that rail-safety measures are actioned.
St Paul had acknowledged that his son was in a higher earning category and that the crash had meant he and his wife had to leave Auckland, he said.
St Paul said the family of a young married businessman with two children had received the highest payout to date, of £750,000.
Some relatives expressed anger at the level of compensation, particularly in light of the £1.3 million paid to Railtrack boss Gerald Corbett when he left his job last November.
The company, which manages the British rail network, copped the bulk of the blame for the disaster when a public report into the crash was released in June.
Mr Macaulay, a bitter critic of Railtrack, said he was much happier working with its new chairman, John Robinson.
"Railtrack have acknowledged we're making an impact on them and there will be changes to the way they do things, so we're making some progress," he said.
"The new chairman is an engineer and he's a nice guy. We like him."
Mr Robinson, who was made chairman in June, last month gave families of victims a long-awaited Railtrack apology.
"They said I was the first person from Railtrack to say that, which surprised me," he said at the time.
