The example I will use is actually for a work accident claim situation; but commonly this is something that is applied to motorcyclists or cyclists who do not wear a helmet. Essentially the same rule of thumb below can apply to motorcyclists / cyclists not wearing a helmet as well.
Say you are injured in an accident at work whereby a piece of metal falls from a ledge and hits you on the head. It is later discovered that this piece of metal should not have been left where it was. It should not have been left in a position whereby it could fall and injure and employee. However at the time of the accident you were not wearing your safety hat that had been provided by your employer, despite being in an area where it is compulsory to wear the safety hat. In this situation, you may be entitled to recover compensation but it is likely that you will be partly at fault (partly contributory negligent).
By failing to wear the safety hat your injuries may be more severe than if you had worn the safety hat. In this situation you are likely to be found contributory negligent. Failure to wear the safety hat means that your injuries are more severe than they otherwise would have been. Contributory negligence can be contributing to the cause of the accident or contributing to the extent of the injuries. You cannot be 100% contributory negligent. Contributory negligence is a partial defence and even if accepted or found by a Court, you are still entitled to compensation. If contributory negligence is found then this will reduce the amount of compensation that you are entitled to. If you are found to be 10% contributory negligent and your claim is valued at £10,000, the insurers or Solicitors would offer you 90% of the overall valuation (i.e. £9,000). The deduction is taken for your own negligence is contributing to the accident or the extent of the injury. In the scenario above it is likely that the contributory negligence would be far greater than 10%.
Failing to wear a safety hat could mean that if an accident does occur, your injuries are likely to be more severe. In personal injury claims are valued on the basis of the extent of the injury. As it was your own failure to wear a safety hat that made your injury much worse, it is likely that contributory negligence would be quite high. You would expect a Court to consider how your injuries would have been if you had wore a safety hat.
Contributory negligence can occur in many different cases. Even if you accept that you were partly at fault, this does not mean that you cannot make a claim. Contributory negligence can reduced the amount of compensation that you are entitled to. However contributory negligence cannot wipe out your compensation in its entirety.