What is meant by Contributory Negligence in Insurance?
Contributory negligence is when a person gets injured or affected, partly due to his/her own negligence and the injured party is barred from recovering any damages (money) from another party who was claimed to have caused the accident.
Some instances of ‘contributory negligence’ are:
- Forgetting your phone in a cab while multitasking. That’s more like letting your phone go on a ride for a lifetime, and not really a case of theft.
- Leaving your phone unattended in the company of unfamiliar people in a nightclub and losing it. While it may be a loss, it can’t be considered accidental in any way.
- Throwing the phone in a rage leading to damage. It’s a breakdown for sure, but not quite mechanical, as we know it.
- Experimenting with your phone by putting it through conditions prohibited by the manufacturer. Like microwaving it too.
Take care of your phone, so it can take care of you.
Explain it like I'm five
We're making insurance so simple, now even 5-year-olds can understand it.
You own an expensive necklace that you normally keep safely locked in a cupboard. One day, after wearing the necklace, you forget to lock it up. You leave it on the side table instead.
Your 3-year-old son finds it and starts playing with it. He takes it outside in the garden and leaves it there. Your dog finds the necklace in the garden and buries it somewhere. You never find it again!
Your necklace is lost now – and neither your child, nor your dog is to blame. It’s lost because you forgot to lock it in your cupboard. One moment of forgetfulness, cost you your precious asset!
That’s contributory negligence – and don’t worry, it happens to the best of us!.