The Claim for Negligence Free Essay Example, 1750 words

The test for a duty of care was established by the case of Donoghue v Stevenson which also established the principle of proximity and the neighbour test. Under the neighbour principle, the court established the general rule that you must not injure your neighbour , and then went onto to establish who would be classed as your neighbour thereby developing the proximity principle. When applying the neighbour principle the courts will attempt to reach a conclusion that is fair, just and reasonable . This principle was applied in Spring v Guardian Assurance Plc. Proving negligence also requires proving the foreseeability of the event that has occurred. The test for reasonable foreseeability requires the person asserting the fault caused to prove that the harm that has been suffered was reasonably foreseeable. In order to be able to advise any of the parties in the above matters, it is, therefore, necessary to decide who owes a duty of care to whom as a starting point. Beginning with K evin it is obvious that he owes a duty of care to Shelley not to cause damage to her property by the work that he is doing. We will write a custom essay sample on The Claim for Negligence or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page It is likely given the work that he has been doing that he actually works for a company. This would mean that Shelley would be able to bring an action against his employers as they would be vicariously liable for the damage caused by him. It may be difficult for the courts to make an exact award to Shelley for the damage caused as economic loss always causes problems for the courts.