Proving negligence or breach of statutory duty

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This Overview provides a summary of the main principles that govern liability in most personal injury claims. Detailed guidance on the legal issues for specific types of personal injury claim can be found on the Topics page of the PI & Clinical Negligence practical guidance homepage under the ‘Types of claim’ heading.

Liability can also arise other than from negligence or breach of statutory duty. For example, a claim may arise from a deliberate assault or a claim may need to be pursued through a scheme such as the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.

Duty of care in personal injury claims

For a claimant to succeed in proving their personal injury claim in common law negligence, they must first prove that a duty of care was owed by the defendant. When assessing whether a duty of care exists the court will consider whether there is an established precedent for the relationship between the parties, eg as between motorists and other road users. The court will then follow these precedents unless it is necessary to consider whether they should be departed from.

If a practitioner is faced

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