One of the most important parts of a personal injury claim is being able to show that someone else was responsible for your injury.
In legal jargon terms, this is called proving negligence. If you can show that another person or organisation failed to take proper care—and that’s what caused your injury—you’ve likely got a strong claim.
Negligence can happen when someone has a duty to take reasonable care, but doesn’t—and someone else gets hurt because of it.
To prove negligence, you usually need to show three things:
The other person (or could be a business) owed you a duty of care
They breached their duties by not acting in a safe or reasonable way
You suffered an injury or loss because of what they did (or didn’t do)
A shop failing to clean up a spill, causing a customer to slip
A driver running a red light and causing a crash
An employer not providing proper safety equipment
A doctor misreading test results or failing to follow up
A landlord ignoring a broken step or loose railing
The key is whether a “reasonable person” in the same situation would have acted differently.
You can still make a claim even if you were partly to blame for what happened. This is called contributory negligence.
For example, if you weren’t wearing a seatbelt at the time of a crash, or didn’t follow safety rules at work, your compensation might be reduced—but you might still be eligible for a payout.
Fault is usually proven using evidence like:
Photos or videos of the accident scene
Witness statements
Police or incident reports
Medical records
Expert reports (like from engineers, doctors or safety experts)
CCTV footage, if available
The more detail you can provide, the better. This is where a lawyer can also help—they know what to look for and how to gather strong evidence.
Now that you know how fault is decided, the next page will help you work out whether you actually need a lawyer—and when it’s worth getting legal help.
Go to the next page: Do I Need a Lawyer?