What Is a Split Liability Agreement?
There are several circumstances where one person’s or party’s negligence causes accidents or harm to the other, and the latter chooses to get compensated through personal injury claims in Glasgow. However, it is not mandatory that accidents will always be one person’s fault. There is a multitude of cases when more than one party can be said to have caused property damage or personal injury, and this is where the blame is “split”.
For instance, you are driving on a busy highway and unfortunately, your cat is struck by another vehicle pulling out of a side road. Due to this collision, your vehicle is very badly damaged and you have also suffered minor injuries like whiplash, bruises, and more.
In this case, if you were abiding by the rules like keeping in the speed limit and driving with proper care, you’re doing everything right, and the other driver will be fully blamed for the accident. In such cases, you might be able to get compensated with £8000-10,000.
However, if you weren’t taking care of the speed limits, and you accelerated vigorously, there’s a high chance that your high speed may have caused the other driver to wrongly judge the time he had to turn out of the side road, therefore causing a collision. In this case, the other driver will not be paying 100% of the compensation.
Here, the court will decide that you are partially involved and thereby receive a reduced award to demonstrate that you were to be blamed as well.
Split Liability
Split liability is when more than one party is responsible for causing the incident. These types of cases most happen in road traffic accidents. Insurance companies of the drivers, who are to pay the damages, do their thorough investigation and they might judge that both parties are equally responsible for the mishap and therefore must pay 50% of the liability. However, split liability cases are also seen in property damage or personal injury claims.
How Much Compensation Will You Get?
The personal injury lawyer you hire for the case will start their work by examining the amount of compensation you will get receive, and they will assume that the other party is 100% responsible. If your claim reaches court, the judge will decide the entire value of the claim.
After this, the decision will be made about the extent to which you are held responsible for your own damages. This responsibility is often shown in percentages. For instance:
- 100% award would mean that the entire blame is on the other party, and you will receive the whole compensation
- 75/25 awards mean that you have some share in the cause of the accident, and therefore you will only get 75% of the compensation.
- 50/50 awards mean that you are equally responsible for the accident, and thereby you will only get 50% of the compensation.
- 25/75 means that you are mostly to be blamed for the accident. Here, you will only get 25% of the compensation.
Split liability is also called “contributory negligence”. this term is often used by solicitors and this basically tells that you were partly at fault for causing the mishap and thus you contributed to your own damages.
Will The Solicitor’s Fee Split Too?
The solicitor’s fee won’t split. The legal costs you pay are based on the overall value of the claim and not on your split liability agreement. Therefore, if for instance, your claim settles on a 25/75 basis, your solicitor will be entitled to their full legal costs.
At Hamilton Douglas Legal, our panel of solicitors will provide guidance on all types of personal injury claims to you. Our lawyers will always and only support those who have been wronged and are looking for ways to move forward with their lives. Hamilton Douglas Legal works on a strict no win no fee basis, in which case you won’t have to pay anything at all if your claim is unsuccessful.
