Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Foreseeability definition

What does Foreseeability mean? Foreseeability describes whether, at the time of the act or breach, a reasonable person could anticipate the kind of harm that occurred. It is a case law concept used across negligence (Scotland: delict) and contract to define the scope of duty and to limit recoverable damages by remoteness. To recover damages, the claimant (Scotland: pursuer) must show that injury or loss was reasonably foreseeable; if not, the damage is too remote and the defendant will not be held liable. In negligence/delict, foreseeability helps establish a duty of care and the remoteness rule: only damage of a foreseeable type...

Foreseeability and Remoteness in Negligence: Scope of Risk, Type of Damage, Egg‑shell Skull Rule and Burden of Proof

Published by a LexisNexis PI & Clinical Negligence expert

Practice notes

The concept of Foreseeability and Remoteness in Negligence claims

The Defendant bears responsibility for loss only where it represents a foreseeable result of breaching a common law duty. It is unnecessary to establish that the defendant anticipated the exact sequence of events. It suffices that the harm is of a foreseeable kind, even if it occurred through an unusual mechanism. The focus is on the category of injury rather than the specific manner of its occurrence. See the Practice Notes: Duty of care in personal injury claims and Breach of the duty of care in personal injury claims.

Nevertheless, even where the claimant establishes:

that the defendant was negligent (ie in breach of duty), and
that such negligence actually caused the injury or loss,

the defendant is not automatically liable for every consequence. To recover damages in a claim founded in negligence, the injury or damage must have been reasonably foreseeable. If it was not reasonably foreseeable, the defendant is not accountable and the loss is treated as too remote (hence the topic is often described as remoteness). Usually, whether the damage was foreseeable will be obvious...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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