What is comparative negligence and how does it affect my claim?

Comparative negligence is a legal doctrine used to allocate fault between multiple parties in a personal injury case. When both the plaintiff (injured party) and the defendant share responsibility for an accident, the court assigns a percentage of fault to each. Your compensation is then reduced by your own percentage of fault. For example, if a jury awards you $100,000 but finds you 20% at fault, you would receive $80,000. There are two main versions: pure comparative negligence allows recovery regardless of your fault level; modified comparative negligence bars recovery if your fault exceeds 50% or 51% (depending on the state). Insurance adjusters routinely try to assign as much fault to claimants as possible to reduce payouts, which is one reason having an attorney to defend your conduct is so important.