What is contributory negligence?
What is contributory negligence?
Our personal injury experts explain what contributory negligence is, and how it may affect your settlement or damages payment when taking legal action after an accident.
When making a personal injury claim, winning your case depends on proving that the other party is to blame. However, in some instances, it can be hard to assign complete blame on either side.
Contributory negligence is often used as a defence tactic and is the notion that fault partially falls on the claimant. An example of this would be an employer admitting to a breach of duty but also claiming that an employee was not adhering to safe work practices.
To prove contributory negligence, the defendant must demonstrate the following:
- There was a failure on the part of the claimant to take reasonable care for their own safety
- This caused or contributed to the injury to some extent
- Harm to the claimant was reasonably foreseeable
How could contributory negligence affect your settlement or damages payment?
Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945 dictates that if the court finds you were partly to blame for the accident, your damages “shall be reduced to such extent as the court thinks just and equitable having regard to the claimant’s share in the responsibility for the damage.”
This means the money you get from winning your case will be lowered in proportion to how much fault is attributed to you and your actions that contributed to the accident. The fault placed on you will be assigned a percentage and your damages will be lowered by this percentage before it is awarded to you.
In rare circumstances, the court may find that you were 100 per cent contributorily negligent. This finding suggests that although there was a breach of legal duty by the other party, your conduct means that you were completely responsible for your injuries.
We are here to help
If you or a loved one have suffered an accident, you may be entitled to compensation even if you believe you are partially responsible. Our team of personal injury lawyers are leading experts in the field and are well equipped to handle your case. We offer bespoke advice and support as well as our solicitors' legal talent. Talk to us about your case today by contacting us online here.