When we become injured in an accident that wasn’t our fault and choose to make an injury compensation claim a solicitor will look at all aspects of the accident when gathering evidence to find out who was negligent in causing the injuries. Some injury compensation claims may result in a verdict of contributory negligence.
Contributory negligence is when it is agreed, or a court decides, that the injured party in some way contributed towards the injuries they sustained. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they are saying that person helped cause the accident, it may mean that their actions prior to the accident made the injuries worse than they could have been.
For example, if you become involved in a car accident that wasn’t your fault and then suffer injuries due to this, the speed of your vehicle may be assessed, and whether you have been drinking may be assessed, for example. If they find that you were not wearing a seatbelt at the time the accident took place, they may hold you negligent towards your injuries for failing to do so. Stating that the seriousness of any injuries sustained could have been prevented if you had abided by the law and wore a seatbelt.
In a lot of injury compensation claims contributory negligence is used as a defence by the opposing party. In cases like this the defendant may need to prove the negligence of the claimant.
If you are looking to make an injury compensation claim and think that the other party may try and show you were negligent and contributed to your injuries, you can still make an injury compensation claim. It simply means that the amount of compensation you are rewarded could be reduced; for example, a claim that would have resulted in £10,000 compensation may be reduced to £7,500. For more information on injury claims or if you are looking to make a claim contact the Injury Lawyers.