Yes. Being partially at fault reduces a personal injury claim. It does not end it. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador each have a Contributory Negligence Act, and all four work the same way: the court values the damages, assigns each party a percentage of fault, and reduces the award by the plaintiff’s share. A person found 25 percent at fault recovers 75 percent of their damages. The old rule that barred anyone even 1 percent at fault is gone.
Insurers know this. They also know most people do not, which is why the first adjuster call after a crash in Moncton, Halifax, Charlottetown or St. John’s so often includes a suggestion that you were speeding, distracted or not wearing a seatbelt. The percentage is the fight, not the right to claim.
A Personal Injury Claim Partially at Fault Is Reduced by the Plaintiff’s Percentage
The court sets the total damages first. Then it apportions fault. Damages of $100,000 with 20 percent fault on the plaintiff pay $80,000.
The plaintiff’s lawyer’s work is on the second step. Police reports, witness statements and physical evidence from the scene set the percentage, and a difference of 20 points on a serious injury is a large sum.
The percentage is decided on evidence, not on who was hurt worse. A plaintiff with a catastrophic injury and 50 percent fault recovers half. A plaintiff with a minor injury and no fault recovers all of it. How much and what share are decided separately.
New Brunswick Apportions Fault by Degree and Defaults to an Equal Split
New Brunswick’s Contributory Negligence Act apportions liability by degree of fault. If the evidence cannot separate the degrees, the Act deems the parties equally at fault. A 50/50 split is the fallback when the file is thin, which is an argument for building the file.
The question the courts in Moncton and Saint John ask is whether your conduct was a proximate cause of the injury and how far it contributed. If you consult with injury lawyers in Moncton after a crash, that is the analysis you will hear first.
Speeding is the common example. A driver going 10 km/h over the limit is hit by a driver who ran a red light. Both breached a rule. Running the light is the more blameworthy act, and the court puts most of the fault there.
The insurer’s first letter on a New Brunswick file often asserts a percentage before any investigation. It is a negotiating position. The percentage a court would assign depends on the reconstruction, the sightlines and the witnesses, none of which the adjuster has when the letter goes out.
Nova Scotia Applies the Reasonable Person Test and the Seatbelt Reduction
Nova Scotia’s Contributory Negligence Act applies the ordinary rules of negligence and asks what a reasonable person would have done.
Seatbelts are the usual issue in a Nova Scotia car accident claim. Not wearing one did not cause the crash, but it made the injuries worse, and Nova Scotia courts reduce damages by 5 to 25 percent for it. The claim continues despite the reduction.
An insurer’s early assessment of fault is an opening position, not a finding. In the Nova Scotia court system it is tested against testimony and, where the numbers matter, accident reconstruction.
PEI Reduces the Award and Newfoundland Makes Defendants Jointly Liable
Prince Edward Island has its own Contributory Negligence Act. After a trip and fall in PEI, the property owner will say you were on your phone or wearing the wrong shoes. Those arguments reduce the award if they succeed. They do not defeat it.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s Contributory Negligence Act makes two or more at-fault defendants jointly and severally liable. The plaintiff can collect the whole judgment from one of them. If one defendant is uninsured, the others pay.
In pedestrian accidents in Newfoundland the same rule applies as elsewhere. A pedestrian outside a crosswalk may carry some fault, but the driver of a vehicle owes the higher duty and usually carries most of it.
Seatbelts, Helmets, Speed and Blocked Views Are the Usual Shared-Fault Findings
The seatbelt defence reduces damages for injuries the belt would have prevented. The helmet defence in motorcycle and bicycle claims works the same way: it reduces the head injury damages and leaves the broken leg alone.
A left-turning driver who fails to yield to an oncoming car doing 10 km/h over the limit is 75 to 90 percent at fault. The failure to yield caused the crash. The speed made it worse.
In a slip and fall, poor lighting and an unsalted patch of ice put the fault on the occupier. Carrying a box that blocked your view might move 20 percent of it back to you.
What Is Reasonable Care?
The test is objective. What would a person of ordinary prudence have done in the same circumstances? Conduct below that standard is contributory negligence.
The standard bends for emergencies. Under the agony of the moment doctrine, a person put in sudden danger by someone else’s negligence is not judged on whether their split-second choice was the best one. A driver who swerves to avoid a collision and hits a pole is not penalised for the swerve.
The last clear chance rule is no longer a separate doctrine in most of Canada, but judges still ask who had the better opportunity to avoid the harm. That question decides the percentages.
The Plaintiff Must Prove Duty, Breach, Causation and Damages
The plaintiff still carries the burden of proving negligence: a duty of care, a breach of it, causation, and damages. Every driver owes a duty to other road users. Every shop owner owes one to customers.
The evidence is photographs, witness names and medical records gathered from the first day. Where speed and braking distance decide the split, an accident reconstructionist calculates them from the physical evidence.
Shared Fault Is the Insurer’s Lever in Settlement Negotiations
Most claims settle. In negotiation, shared fault is the insurer’s main lever, and every fact about your own conduct becomes an argument for a lower number.
The counter is a valuation. General damages for pain and suffering, special damages for out-of-pocket loss, and a realistic estimate of the percentage a judge would assign. From that number the negotiation moves up, not down from the insurer’s offer.
The insurer’s offer is built from its own fault percentage. If it puts 40 percent on the plaintiff and the evidence supports 10, the offer is short by 30 percent of the whole claim. Settling the percentage before discussing the total is the order the negotiation has to run in.
Early offers arrive before the injury has settled. They rarely price future lost earnings or long-term care. A settlement signed before the prognosis is known cannot be reopened.
Section B Benefits Are Not Reduced by Contributory Negligence
Section B accident benefits come from your own auto policy and do not depend on fault. They pay medical treatment, rehabilitation and part of lost wages whether you were 0 or 100 percent responsible.
Contributory negligence does not reduce Section B. It reduces the tort claim against the other driver, which covers what Section B does not: the rest of the lost wages and the general damages.
Section B also has to be claimed first. A plaintiff who ignores Section B and claims the same treatment in the lawsuit is told to mitigate. Both claims run together from the start.
The Limitation Period Is Two Years in All Four Provinces
All four Atlantic provinces give two years to file the lawsuit. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador count from the day the injury was known or ought to have been known; Prince Edward Island counts from the event. After that the claim is barred.
Evidence goes faster than the deadline. Surveillance footage is overwritten within weeks. Witnesses move. A claim started early is a claim with the footage.
The exceptions are narrow: injuries not discoverable at the time, and minors. Do not plan around one. Someone from the firm’s history can tell you what applies to your file.
Why Choose the Mike Murphy Law Group?
Michael B. Murphy, KC, and the firm have over 100 reported decisions and five offices across Atlantic Canada. The practice covers motor vehicle, motorcycle and ATV collisions, fatal injury claims, long-term disability disputes and sexual abuse claims.
Personal injury claims are taken on a no win, no fee basis. There are no hourly bills while you are off work, and no fee unless the firm recovers money for you.
FAQ
Can I Still Get a Settlement If the Police Gave Me a Ticket at the Scene?
Yes. A ticket is evidence, not a finding of civil liability. Traffic court and civil court apply different rules. A minor infraction on your side and a serious breach on the other still puts most of the fault on the other driver.
What If I Was a Passenger in a Car Driven by Someone Who Was at Fault?
A passenger is almost never at fault for the collision. If your driver caused it, the claim is against their policy. If both drivers did, there may be a claim against both. The only passenger conduct that attracts fault is something like distracting the driver or not wearing a seatbelt.
Will My Insurance Rates Go Up If I File a Personal Injury Claim Partially at Fault?
Premiums follow your insurer’s fault finding, not whether you sued. A finding of 50 percent or more usually raises rates. The lawsuit recovers your losses and is a separate question from the premium.
What Happens If the Other Person Has No Insurance?
Your own policy’s uninsured automobile coverage responds. Each Atlantic province also has a Facility Association or equivalent fund. Partial fault reduces the recovery from those sources the same way it reduces any other.
Do I Have to Go to Court If I Am Partially at Fault?
Usually not. Most Atlantic Canadian injury claims settle, and disputed fault is often agreed as a percentage at mediation. The firm prepares every file for trial anyway, because the insurer’s offer tracks how ready the plaintiff is to try the case.