Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Negligence definition

What does Negligence mean? In legal practice, negligence describes a failure to take reasonable care that results in foreseeable harm or loss. It is proved by establishing: (i) a duty of care, (ii) breach of that duty measured against the objective standard of a reasonable person, (iii) causation (factual “but for” cause and legal scope/remoteness), and (iv) recoverable damage. The concept is defined and developed by case law. A classic formulation is that negligence is omitting what a reasonable person would do, or doing what a prudent person would not (Blyth v Birmingham Waterworks (1856) 11 Ex Ch 781). The test is objective: the

Negligence: breach of duty and standard of care—objective test, four risk factors, professionals, children, sport and public bodies, common practice, hindsight, errors of judgment, Compensation Act 2006 s 1

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Practice notes

Once a Duty of care is confirmed (see Practice Note: Negligence—when does a duty of care arise?), the next step is to assess whether that duty has been breached. The answer turns on several factors outlined below and is judged against the objective baseline of reasonableness, taken from an impersonal standpoint and the general background against which reasonableness is assessed.

Breach of duty of care—reasonableness

To decide if there has been a breach, the law applies the artificial, objective measure of the ‘reasonable person’, setting aside the realities of the Defendant’s position insofar as their abilities diverge from that norm, notwithstanding any inexperience or personal shortcomings (Glasgow Corpn v Muir, per Lord Macmillan).

Breach of duty of care—objectivity

This objective demand for a reasonable level of competence covers skills attainable only through training and effort, as well as ordinary attributes most people are expected to have. Accordingly, learner-drivers of motor cars owe the same obligation to drive with the skill and care expected of a competent and experienced motorist, the standard applied in practice to competent and experienced drivers (Nettleship v Weston)...

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Professor Richard A Buckley , M.A, D.Phil, DCL, Oxford

University of Reading

Professor Buckley is an Emeritus Professor of Law 2008 -. Formerly Professor of Law, University of Reading 1993-2008; Fellow and Tutor in Law, Mansfield College, Oxford 1975-1993; Lecturer in Laws, King's College, London 1970-1975. Leverhulme Research Fellow, 2001. Publications include The Law of Negligence and Nuisance, 5th ed (2011, LexisNexis); Illegality and Public Policy, 2nd ed (2009, Sweet & Maxwell); The Law of Nuisance, 2nd ed (1995, Butterworths). Professor Buckley is also a contributing editor to Clerk and Lindsell on Torts, Halsbuy's Laws of England, Atkin's Court Forms, Fleming's The Law of Torts, 10th ed (2011), and formerly to Salmond and Heuston on Torts. ...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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