The law of negligence was effectively created in a 1932 court case called Donahue v Stephenson in which a woman took legal action for damages for personal injury when she had gastro-enteritis after drinking from a bottle of ginger beer that contained a dead snail. The judge who heard the case was Lord Atkin and he ruled, for the first time ever, that the manufacturer of the ginger beer had a 'duty of care' for the safety and well being of Donahue notwithstanding that it was her friend who had actually bought the bottle and in allowing a snail to remain in the bottle of ginger beer the manufacturer had been negligent.
There are now numerous definitions of negligence and one of the most commonly referred to is 'the omission to do something which a reasonable man guided by those considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs would do, or doing something which a prudent and reasonable man would not do'. Since Donahue v Stephenson the law of negligence has been constantly refined and in order to actually claim compensation it is necessary to show that the other person owed the injured person a duty of care, and all employers automatically owe a duty of care to their employees, that the duty was breached, that the injury was caused by the negligent act and that the victim sustained loss or damage which may include personal injury.
In order to succeed in a negligence claim it is necessary to prove the following four elements:-
Duty of care:
The duty of care requires that the person being sued must be required by law to adhere to a standard of conduct which protects others from unreasonable risk of harm.
Breach of the duty of care:
If a reasonable person in a similar situation would have done things differently to the person being sued then there may be a breach of the duty of care.
Causation:
The person being sued must be the actual cause of injuries sustained by the victim who is suing.
Damage:
The claimant must be able to show that there has been actual damage or loss.
The UK Occupational Illness Solicitors Network is able to deal with a wide variety of industrial disease claims ranging from minor problems to injuries of the utmost severity. All our compensation claims under the law of negligence are dealt with using the no win no fee scheme and compensation is always paid in full with no deductions whatsoever. There is no need to fund or finance any legal case as it proceeds and there is nothing to pay out at any time. Our members are all qualified as specialists and in England and Wales they are all members of the Law Society panel of personal injury experts. If you would like to speak to a specialist solicitor who only deals with personal injury claims you can either use the 24/7 helpline or complete the form or just email us. If after talking to us you decide not to take matters further then you are under no obligation to do so and you will not be charged for our advice.
