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Injury

Accidents are often not the fault of just one person. Where there is a dispute over liability for the accident a court will often apportion blame between the two parties on a percentage basis. This doctrine is known as contributory negligence and compensation that is awarded to each party will reflect the percentage that they are held to be liable for the accident.

The Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945, section 1 (1)

"Where any person suffers damage as the result partly of his own fault and partly of the fault of any other person or persons, a claim in respect of that damage shall not be defeated by reason of the fault of the person suffering the damage, but the damages recoverable in respect thereof shall be reduced to such extent as the court thinks just and equitable having regard to the claimant's share in the responsibility of the damage".

Before the The Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945 came into force any lack of care by the claimant could provide a total defence to a claim which often thereafter failed thereby making many cases very difficult to win.

For either or both parties to be negligent it is necessary to show that they owed each other a duty of care which is no problem in regards to work accidents, road traffic accidents and tripping and slipping cases. The guilty party must have breached that duty of care by failing to act reasonably in doing something that a reasonable person would not have done or failed to do something that a reasonable person would have done. In addition damage, injury or financial loss must have occurred to the victim directly as a result of the other parties actions.

As an example of this doctrine if there is a failure to wear a seatbelt when travelling in a motor vehicle that is involved in a collision then it could lead to an assessment by a judge that there is contributory negligence on the part of the claimant with regards any injury sustained in the accident. If however failure to wear a seat belt did not worsen the injuries that would have happened in any event even if the claimant had worn a seat belt then damages will still be awarded in full with no percentage reduction. The claimants failure must have materially contributed to the injuries in order to attract a reduction in the damages award.

Our solicitors operate exclusively using the no win no fee scheme. We pay compensation in full with no deductions. Our claims are totally risk free and, win or lose there is no charge. We do not ask you to fund or finance your claim as it proceeds and we only use specialist lawyers who are members of the Law Society panel of personal injury experts.