General Negligence Claims- What Do They Mean?

When you speak of personal injury claims, it is generally associated with accidents like auto accidents and slips and falls. However, did you know that there is an entirely different category of claims called general negligence claims?

As the term suggests, these are accidents caused by a person’s or company’s negligent acts. And most importantly, the fault is not something that is easily defined.

Types of General Negligence Claims

There are various types of injury lawsuits and claims filed for injuries caused by general negligence. They include dog bites, security negligence, negligent supervision, and drowning.

All types of motor vehicle accidents, including boating and 18-wheeler accidents, are common reasons for general negligence claims.

So, in short, general negligence claims are claims sought for an individual’s or company’s act performed without reasonable care, thus damaging or injuring another person.

You will understand it better through the example described later.

How to Prove General Negligence

Four elements have to be met to file a general negligence lawsuit against any person or company.

Of course, these elements may vary due to the different jurisdictions. That is why you should consult your Burbank lawyer before taking any action.

1. Duty

The defendant is the person accused of general negligence and maybe a person or company. This defendant had some duty to the plaintiff or injured person to act in a particular manner.

The defendant can be anyone, including a store employee. It is because they have the responsibility of performing their duties responsibly without hurting their store customers.

2. Breach of duty

You have a general negligence claim if the defendant has breached their duty.

Take the store employee example.

While they have to move boxes and things around in carts, they have to do it responsibly. They should fill their cart within limits, ensuring that they can see in front of them.

Overfilling it so much that they can’t see in front of them, and then running into the shopper or customer is a breach of duty.

3. Causation

Causation means that the defendant’s action or inaction is what inflicted injuries or damages to the plaintiff.

In this case, there is sufficient proof of causation against the defendant.

It is because the employee had overfilled their shopping cart.

The overfilled cart blocked their view, which leads to the employee hitting the customer, who was looking around or shopping.

4. Damages

The defendant’s actions or inactions must have caused the plaintiff some damage and injury.

Supposing the shopper injures their foot and requires medical care.

The damage here includes medical expenses incurred to treat and help them recover from the injury. Damages also include lost wages because they will not be able to go to work for some time and any possible past and future trauma like pain and suffering.

However, the shopper has to prove that these damages were a consequence of the store employee’s irresponsibility and negligence. It’s this proof that determines a general negligence claim.

Why You Need a Lawyer

These four elements may seem to be so straightforward on paper. However, it is not always easy to prove them in a general negligence claim. It gets even more complicated if the defendant is a company or someone with enough resources to counter the lawsuit.

The solution lies in hiring a competent attorney in Burbank to handle your case.

They have the experience to assess your claim and decide if it is worth filing a general negligence case or not. If yes, they have the necessary and knowledge to help you win your deserved compensation.