What is contributory negligence?

Accidents aren’t always entirely the fault of someone else, like another driver in a road traffic incident or your employer if you’re injured at work. Sometimes, the person who was injured may be partly responsible too. Thanks to a legal concept called “contributory negligence”, they can still apply for compensation, but the amount they receive may be reduced.

Read on to find out what contributory negligence is, how fault is decided in the case of an accident, and how Fletchers Solicitors work hard to ensure your compensation payout is maximised.

What is contributory negligence?

Contributory negligence is a legal principle which refers to the claimant (the injured party) being partly responsible for the injury or damage they’re claiming for.

Imagine a motorcyclist and a car are involved in a collision. The car driver, when changing lanes, might have forgotten to check their blind spot, leading to the crash with the motorcyclist. However, the motorcyclist wasn’t wearing a helmet which made his injuries worse.

In this case, the amount the motorcyclist receives as part of their compensation case might be reduced or denied to reflect that they were partly responsible for the severity of their injuries.

The Contributory Negligence Act 1945

The Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act was established in 1945 and completely changed UK law by allowing courts to apportion liability and reduce damages when a claimant’s own fault contributed to their injury or loss. This was a vast contrast from what stood before where recovery was completely barred. 

The Contributory Negligence Act introduced fairness by letting courts decide what’s “just and equitable” based on each party’s share of responsibility in negligence cases

How contributory negligence affects your personal injury claim

Contributory negligence does not affect your right to bring a personal injury claim, but it can reduce the level of compensation you receive. In some cases, it may even mean you are not able to collect any damages if it’s proven you were partly responsible.

While the initial burden of proving the claim lies with you as the claimant, if the defendant alleges contributory negligence, the legal burden shifts to them. They must prove that your actions partly caused the accident, contributed to the severity of your injuries, or both.

Your solicitor will argue that your actions or inactions did not materially affect the outcome and the other side will argue the opposite. In most cases, both sides will come to an agreement. If not, the case normally goes to court.

Examples of contributory negligence in personal injury cases

There are several situations where contributory negligence cases can affect the amount of personal injury compensation a claimant can receive. Common examples of contributory negligence include:

• Accidents at work: If an employee fails to follow safety instructions, like not wearing the required personal protective equipment (PPE), and they’re injured, their compensation may be reduced.
• Public liability: Slipping on a wet floor in a shop without paying attention to clearly visible warning signs could lead to a lower compensation award.
• Medical negligence: If a patient provides inaccurate medical history or withholds important health information, resulting in incorrect treatment that causes an injury or worsens an existing condition, it may be considered a case of contributory negligence.
• Contributory negligence may also be the case if a driver is filtering through traffic or going too fast.

The behaviours and actions of a person who is injured in an accident can make a difference in how much compensation they receive.

Later, we’ll look at real-life examples of where courts have used the principle of contributory negligence in their judgements. We’ll also share how contributory negligence is handled in the vast majority of cases that don’t make it to court.

Determining liability and fault in contributory negligence claims

To determine liability and fault in a personal injury case, both the behaviour and actions of the claimant and defendant need to be examined.

For example, if you were injured in an accident, you should consider the following scenarios to determine how much responsibility you may have had:

• Foresee-ability: Could you have reasonably predicted that your actions could lead to an injury?
• Age and capacity: Did your age or stage of development affect your ability to understand and avoid the risk?
• Emergency situation: Were you acting differently than normal because this was an emergency? For example, rushing into a burning building to save someone increases the chances that you’ll be injured but you do so because someone’s life might be in danger.
• Failure to consider reasonable care for your safety and the safety of others.

These are key questions that will help you build a picture of any contributing negligence on your part. If you’re unsure, you can discuss more factors to fully understand whether contributory negligence plays a role in your case with your solicitor.

Evidence needed to determine fault in contributory negligence cases

When your solicitor and the other side’s solicitors are discussing how to distribute fault, they rely on evidence to prove their cases.

Contributory negligence evidence can include:

• Witness statements: Accounts from people who saw the accident can back up your story.
• Claimant statements: Accounts from the claimant themselves about the accident.
• Accident reports: Reports from the police, paramedics, or other officials at the scene can provide clear, factual information about the accident.
• Medical records: The records describe the injuries you’ve had, the treatment you’ve received, and how long it will take you to recover.
• Expert testimony: Experts, like incident reconstruction specialists, can explain how an accident took place and what led up to it, which can tell a fuller story about a party’s alleged negligence or carelessness.
• CCTV or dashcam footage: Video footage can show exactly what happened in an accident, helping to confirm the sequence of events and what everyone involved was doing.
• Photographs: Pictures of the scene, accident location, the vehicles or equipment involved, and your injuries can back up your story as well as eyewitness accounts and expert analysis.

It’s your solicitor’s job to minimise any role you had in your accident. They might argue, for instance, that the injuries you would have got in a car crash would have been virtually identical even if you’d been wearing a seatbelt at the time. The other side’s solicitor will argue the opposite.

In most cases, your solicitors and the other side will come to an agreement that works for everyone. If they don’t, your solicitor might recommend going to court.

What compensation can you expect for contributory negligence?

There are various factors that can determine the level of compensation you receive in contributory negligence cases:

• Pain and suffering: This compensates you for the physical pain, emotional distress, and mental anguish you experience as a result of your accident and injury.
• Loss of amenity: This is how much your injury affects your quality of life, like not being able to pursue hobbies or go out to see friends.
• Medical costs: This covers all past and future medical expenses like hospital bills, doctor’s fees, rehabilitation, and medication not covered by the NHS.
• Lost income: Lost earnings, reduced pension contributions, and the effect of the injury on your future career prospects also form part of a compensation award.

If you weren’t at fault in any way for your accidents or injuries, you’ll receive 100% of your compensation.

Real-life contributory negligence cases

Understanding contributory negligence in principle is a good starting point but seeing how it works in practice is another. Here are several examples of contributory negligence cases and how they have played out in courts.

Road traffic accidents

In 2019, we represented a motorcyclist who was not wearing a helmet and whose vehicle collided with a car that was emerging to their left.

The other side argued that our client was partly responsible because they weren’t wearing the appropriate clothing. We argued successfully for our client in this case as the other side dropped their demand for a concession on liability, and our client was awarded £1.3 million.

In Owens vs Brimmell (1977), a passenger was injured after being in a car with a driver who had drunk too much alcohol. The other side argued that they were 20% responsible for their injuries because they knew the state of the driver. The judge agreed and docked 20% off the award.

Accident at work

Contributory negligence workers compensation is also a possibility. One claimant, a quarry worker in a case going back to 1952, hitched a ride on an excavator’s tow bar against company rules. The judge found the claimant 20% responsible for their injuries and deducted 20% from their compensation.

Public place liability

In the case of Sayers vs Harlow in 1958, a claimant was found 25% negligent for their injury after standing on a toilet roll holder while trying to escape from a public toilet.

It’s important to note that there are no hard and fast rules on how much is deducted from an award, it’s decided on a case-by-case basis. Courts will always consider contributory negligence when making a decision on a case.

How Fletchers prove or defend against contributory negligence

At Fletchers, we will always do our best to prove or defend against contributory negligence for your case. The best way to do this is to get as much evidence from the scene at the time as possible.

Your solicitor will also help you in this by:

• Getting reports from medical consultants on your injuries and their severity.
• Gathering accident location photos, statements, police reports and images of the damage sustained to the vehicle.
• Engaging with experts such as health and safety professionals to determine how an accident happens and what actions (or inactions) led to it.

Your specialist personal injury solicitor will guide you through the entire case. They want to make sure that your case is as robust and watertight as possible before presenting your claim to maximise the compensation award you receive.

Why choose Fletchers Solicitors for your contributory negligence case?

For over 30 years, Fletchers Solicitors have represented clients seeking compensation after being injured in an accident. In many of those cases, contributory negligence was a factor.

The Fletchers Solicitors Two Wheel team has successfully argued many filtering cases over the years, with many concluding on a split liability basis. For example,  the team handled a push bike claim where the defendant initially refused to engage on the grounds that the client wasn’t wearing protective clothing or a helmet. Despite this, our team successfully progressed the case, demonstrating their expertise in overcoming challenges and securing outcomes for clients.

The benefit of working with skilled legal professionals like Caroline Morris, and Charlotte Mackulin is their expertise in handling cases involving contributory negligence, ensuring you achieve the best possible outcome.

We operate on a no-win, no-fee basis, so you’re in control from day one of your claim. Tell us what happened to you and, if we think your case is strong enough, we’ll represent you. You only pay us if we’re successful.

Start your claim today or call us on 0330 013 0243.