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You can still make a claim if you are partly to blame for
your accident, as long as someone else is also to blame.
For example, if you are overtaking on the inside of slow
moving traffic some courts may
find you partly to blame, depending on the circumstances.
This is called contributory
negligence: under the law, whilst there are circumstances
where we can claim against someone for not ensuring our
safety, we must also take some responsibility for our own
safety.
Contributory negligence is usually expressed in terms of
a percentage - e.g. the other party is 75% to blame and you
are 25% to blame.
The effect of this on your claim is that you will still have
won for the purpose of being awarded compensation and for
the other party having to pay your legal fees. However, your
compensation will be reduced by the percentage you are found
to be to blame - in other words, if you were to be awarded,
for example, £2000, but were found to be 25% to blame then
you would only receive £2000 less 25% = £1500.
The
percentage will vary according to the circumstances
of an accident. A frequent one being alleged against
cyclists is failure to wear a helmet. This is a contentious
issue, because helmet wear for cyclists is not compulsory
in the UK, and there are arguments that helmets are
not beneficial in all circumstances. If this is argued
in your case, we will contest the issue strongly in your
favour, but unfortunately we cannot give definitive advice
at the moment, because there has been no fixed view taken
by the courts as yet. Remember it will only apply in
any event if you suffer a head injury, and only then
to that part of your claim.
It
is possible for a court to make a finding that a claimant
was 100% contributorily negligent, in which case no compensation
or costs would be awarded, but this is very rare.
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