Liability in accident claims

In plain English: liability means legal responsibility. In an accident claim, the person or business that is liable is the one the law says must pay for your losses, usually through their insurer.

Two questions in every claim

Almost every injury claim breaks down into two parts. First, liability: who is legally responsible, and to what extent? Second, damages: how much is your loss worth? You can have a serious injury and still recover nothing if nobody else is liable, and you can have clear liability on a minor injury that is worth relatively little. Insurers often fight hardest on liability because winning that fight ends the claim.

How liability is usually established

Most accident claims are based on negligence: someone owed you a duty to take reasonable care, fell short of it and caused your injury. Evidence that tends to decide liability includes:

• Police or incident reports, and any charges or fixed penalties
• Photos of the scene, vehicle positions and damage
• Dashcam, CCTV and phone video
• Independent witness statements
• Admissions made at the scene or in writing
• Rules of the road, building codes or workplace safety rules that were broken

Other kinds of liability you may hear about

Vicarious liability: an employer is usually responsible for the negligence of an employee acting in the course of their job, which is why claims against delivery drivers often end up with the company's insurer. Strict liability: in some situations, such as certain dog bite laws in some US states, the owner can be liable without proof of carelessness. Occupiers' or premises liability: the duty property owners and occupiers owe to visitors, which drives slip and trip claims.

What "liability admitted" and "split liability" mean

If the insurer admits liability, it accepts its customer was at fault. That's a big step, but it doesn't settle the value of your claim, and in the UK an admission can sometimes be withdrawn, especially before court proceedings start. Get it in writing.

Split liability means fault is shared. If you're found 25% to blame, your compensation is usually reduced by 25%. In the UK this is called contributory negligence and works as a percentage reduction. Most US states use comparative negligence, though a handful (Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington DC) still use strict contributory negligence, where any fault on your part can bar recovery.

Next: fault · joint and several liability · claims process hub.

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