Passenger Car Accident Claims

Passengers are not in control of the vehicle they occupy and so cannot be guilty of negligence in terms of causing the accident. They rely on their driver and other road users to drive safely. This means that whenever a passenger is injured in an accident they will almost always have a claim, either against their own driver or against the other party involved, depending on who caused the accident. Because motor insurance is compulsory there will usually be an insurer to meet the claim.

Wearing a seat belt – will this affect a claim for compensation?

The only negligence issue for passengers relates to use of a seat belt. With a few limited exceptions, all vehicles are fitted with seat belts and they are required by law to be used. If a passenger is injured in an accident whilst they were not wearing a seat belt then they are likely to have their compensation reduced by a percentage to reflect that ‘contributory negligence’. The amount of the deduction will be a percentage of the total and that percentage will depend on the injuries suffered: if the medical expert(s) concludes that the injuries would have been avoided altogether by the wearing of a seat belt then the deduction will usually be 25%, but if the expert evidence is that there would still have been some injury even if a seat belt were worn then the deduction should only be 15%.

In many cases it can be shown that there was likely to have been some injury in any event, perhaps because the speed of the collision was such that there would have been some injury from the seat belt itself, and so the deduction there should be limited to 15%.

Starting your claim

On contacting us you will speak in confidence to a member of our road accident team who will ask you specific details about your injury including where and when it took place. It is helpful to the claims process if you can provide us with as much information as possible, including any relevant pictures of the injury, pictures of where the injury took place, details of any witnesses and reports of any medical treatment you had as a result of the injury.