What to Know About Comparative Negligence and Shared Liability in Pennsylvania
Legal responsibility or liability for an accident in Pennsylvania is not always black and white. In many cases, multiple parties share fault – including partial blame being assigned to the victim. In these situations, Pennsylvania’s comparative negligence law applies. This law protects your right to recover compensation even if you are partially at fault.
What Does “Negligence” Mean?
“Negligence” in personal injury law means the failure to adhere to the correct standards of care. Most personal injury claims require proof that a person or party (known as the defendant) owed the victim (plaintiff) a duty of care, breached or failed to meet this duty of care, and that this is what caused the accident. The plaintiff must also show proof of related damages or losses.
What Is Pennsylvania’s Comparative Negligence Law?
Comparative negligence is a legal doctrine that can allow an injured victim to recover financial compensation for damages even when he or she is partly at fault for an accident. It is more plaintiff-friendly than contributory negligence laws, which bar a victim from compensation altogether with even 1 percent of fault.
Pennsylvania’s comparative negligence law, Pennsylvania General Assembly § 7102 states:
- “In all actions brought to recover damages for negligence resulting in death or injury to person or property, the fact that the plaintiff may have been guilty of contributory negligence shall not bar a recovery by the plaintiff or his legal representative where such negligence was not greater than the causal negligence of the defendant or defendants against whom recovery is sought, but any damages sustained by the plaintiff shall be diminished in proportion to the amount of negligence attributed to the plaintiff.”
If you file a personal injury claim in Pennsylvania and an insurance company investigation results in a percentage of fault being assigned to you, this will reduce your financial award by a matching percentage. For example, if you receive a $100,000 settlement offer but are allocated 15 percent of fault, your recovery would be reduced by $15,000 to $85,000.
Is There a Limit on Comparative Negligence in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania abides by a “modified comparative negligence” rule, meaning there is a cap or limit on the amount of fault that can be assigned to a plaintiff and still result in a financial recovery. State law limits the ability to recover at 51 percent, meaning a plaintiff can only receive damages with 50 percent or less of the assigned fault. If this amount is exceeded, the plaintiff will be unable to seek compensation from another party.
What if There Are Multiple Defendants?
In Pennsylvania, the joint and several liability law states that when more than one party is liable for a personal injury, each defendant “shall be liable for that proportion of the total dollar amount awarded as damages in the ratio of the amount of that defendant’s liability.” In other words, each defendant will be responsible only for paying his or her percentage of allocated fault.
How a Pittsburgh Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help
Pennsylvania’s comparative fault law and your degree of fault can greatly affect the value of your personal injury claim. If you are assigned a percentage of the blame, you will only be entitled to a percentage of a settlement or judgment award. For this reason, it is important to hire an experienced personal injury attorney in Pittsburgh, PA to represent you during your case.
A skilled Pittsburgh injury attorney can help you prevent an insurance company from using the comparative negligence law to reduce or deny your payout. Your lawyer will investigate the incident to gather strong evidence against the other party and support your version of events. After calculating the true value of your claim, your lawyer can negotiate a fair settlement or represent you in court to maximize your recovery.