The short answer
A negligence claim generally requires four things: that the other party owed a duty of care, that they failed to meet it, that the failure caused the harm, and that the harm produced real losses. Missing any one of them defeats the claim, no matter how careless the conduct looks.
Your reading roadmap
01
Why 'they were careless' is not enough
People often arrive at a consultation certain that someone behaved badly, and are surprised that this is only part of the question. The legal system does not compensate carelessness in the abstract. It compensates harm that a particular person or organization had a responsibility to prevent and could have prevented, where that failure is what actually produced the loss. Each of those links has to hold.
02
Duty: was there a responsibility to be careful?
A duty of care is a legal responsibility to act with reasonable care toward someone. Drivers owe it to other road users, property owners owe versions of it to people who come onto their land, and professionals owe it to the people they serve. Duty is often the least contested element in everyday cases and the most contested in unusual ones, such as harm caused by someone who had no obvious relationship to the person injured.
03
Breach: what would a reasonable person have done?
Breach asks whether the conduct fell short of what reasonable care required in the circumstances. The comparison is to a reasonable person in the same situation, not to a perfect one and not to what hindsight suggests. This is where evidence about conditions, warnings, industry practice, and what the party knew at the time does its work.
04
Causation: did the breach actually cause this harm?
Causation is the element people underestimate most. It is not enough that someone was careless and that you were injured; the carelessness has to be what produced the injury. Pre-existing conditions, intervening events, and alternative explanations are all argued here, which is why medical records and the sequence of events matter so much.
05
Damages: was there an actual loss?
A negligence claim requires real harm. A near miss, however frightening, generally does not support a claim on its own. Losses have to be identified and documented, which is a separate exercise from proving that someone was at fault, and one that a claimant largely controls through record-keeping.
- Duty — a legal responsibility to use reasonable care
- Breach — conduct that fell short of that responsibility
- Causation — the breach is what produced the harm
- Damages — actual, identifiable loss resulted
06
How much proof is required
Civil claims are decided on a lower standard than criminal cases. The federal courts describe the civil standard as a preponderance of the evidence — that something is more likely than not — rather than the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard used in criminal prosecutions. That difference explains why the same event can produce a civil claim that succeeds and a criminal case that does not, or the reverse.
07
The wording varies by state
Every state has its own formulation of these elements, expressed in its statutes, its case law, and the instructions its judges read to juries. The four-part structure is a widely used way to describe the analysis rather than a national statute, so how a state defines duty, what conduct counts as a breach, and how causation is framed all need to be confirmed locally.
08
Why this matters before you call anyone
Knowing the four elements changes what you gather and what you ask. If you can describe who was responsible for the condition, what they should have done differently, why that failure produced the injury, and what it has cost you, a lawyer can assess the matter far faster. It also tells you which part of your account is thin, which is usually the part worth documenting first.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Does negligence mean someone did something on purpose?
No — that is closer to the opposite. Negligence concerns a failure to use reasonable care, not a deliberate act. Intentional conduct falls under different categories of claim with different elements and sometimes different insurance consequences, so describing what actually happened accurately matters more than choosing a label.
What if more than one person was careless?
That is common, and states handle it differently. More than one party can be responsible for the same harm, and how responsibility is divided among them — and what happens if one of them cannot pay — is governed by state law. It is one of the more variable areas in tort law and worth asking about specifically.
Can I have a claim if I was not physically injured?
Sometimes, but the rules are narrow and state-specific. Property damage, financial loss, and certain emotional harms can support claims in defined circumstances, and many states place particular limits on claims for emotional harm without physical injury. This is an area where a general answer is unreliable and a local one is necessary.
Official forms and preparation tools
Get organized before you file or ask for help.
Use the preparation aids to collect information. Always obtain legal forms from the court or agency that controls them.
timelineInjury incident timeline
Fixes the sequence of events while memory is fresh, in the form a lawyer or adjuster can actually use.
Open checklist
How to use it
- Write it within days if you can; memory reshapes quickly
- Keep it factual and avoid characterising fault
- Mark where a record exists and where you are relying on memory
- Date the document itself, and do not rewrite it later
Before the incident
- What you were doing and where you were going
- Conditions — light, weather, surface, noise
- Anything you noticed that seemed unsafe
- Any prior injury to the same part of your body
The incident itself
- Date and time, as precisely as you can
- Exact location, including which entrance, aisle, or lane
- What happened, in sequence
- What was said at the scene, and by whom
- Who was present, with contact details
Immediately afterwards
- Who was notified, and when
- Report or claim numbers issued
- Whether photographs were taken, and by whom
- What was moved, cleaned, or repaired, and when
- First symptoms, and when they appeared
The days that followed
- First medical visit and what was said
- Work missed, and when it began
- Contact from any insurer, with names and dates
- Anything you signed or agreed to
This is preparation, not a statement to any insurer or court
It does not establish fault or the value of any claim
Completing it does not preserve any filing deadline
It is not legal advice and creates no attorney-client relationship
logInjury evidence log
Records what evidence exists, where it is, and what is at risk of disappearing before anyone requests it.
Open checklist
How to use it
- List what exists before worrying about what it proves
- Flag anything on a short retention cycle, especially video
- Note who controls each item, not only what it is
- Do not alter, clean, repair, or discard anything relevant
Physical evidence
- Anything involved in the incident, kept unaltered
- Damaged clothing, footwear, glasses, or equipment
- Vehicle or property damage, and where it is now
- Where each item is stored, and who has access
Images and recordings
Video retention cycles are frequently measured in days. Identify who controls footage first.
- Your own photographs and video, with original timestamps
- Photographs taken by anyone else, and who has them
- Nearby cameras — business, doorbell, transit, traffic
- Who controls each camera, and whether they have been asked
People
- Witnesses, with phone numbers and how to reach them
- Anyone who arrived afterwards and saw the conditions
- Staff or officials who responded
- Anyone who saw your condition in the days that followed
Documents
- Incident, police, or store reports and their numbers
- Correspondence from any insurer, with claim numbers
- Anything you have signed, with a copy retained
- Repair estimates, invoices, or property valuations
Listing evidence does not preserve it; some items require a formal request
It does not determine what is admissible or what matters legally
It does not preserve any filing deadline
It is not legal advice
logMedical treatment and expense log
Tracks treatment, costs, and missed work as they happen, so losses are documented rather than reconstructed.
Open checklist
How to use it
- Update it weekly; reconstruction months later is incomplete
- Record what was billed, what insurance allowed, and what you paid
- Note the reason for any gap in treatment at the time it happens
- Keep receipts even after a reimbursement
Providers and visits
- Provider name, specialty, and contact details
- Date of each visit and what it was for
- Diagnosis or findings as explained to you
- Referrals, imaging, and therapy ordered
- Whether records have been requested, and when
Costs
- Provider bills, with dates and amounts billed
- Explanation-of-benefits statements showing allowed and paid amounts
- What you paid out of pocket, with receipts
- Prescriptions, equipment, and supplies
- Travel, parking, and childcare for appointments
Work and income
- Dates missed, and whether paid or unpaid
- Sick leave or vacation used
- Employer confirmation obtained, and from whom
- Duties you could not perform on return
Daily effect
Specifics carry weight; adjectives do not. Record the shift you could not work, not how bad it felt.
- A line or two per day: what hurt, what you could not do
- Specific activities missed, with dates
- Help you needed that you would not normally need
- Any reason you missed or stopped treatment
This is a private record, not a medical record or a claim submission
It does not establish that any expense is recoverable
It is not medical or legal advice
Records govern where this log and the records disagree
logInsurer communication log
Creates a dated record of every insurer contact, request, and offer, so nothing rests on recollection.
Open checklist
How to use it
- Add an entry during or immediately after every contact
- Follow significant calls with a short written summary by email
- Record what was requested and under what authority
- Keep copies of everything sent to you and everything you sign
The basics for every contact
- Date, time, and how contact was made
- Name, company, and whether it is your insurer or another party's
- Claim number referenced
- Who initiated the contact
What was asked
- Information or documents requested
- Whether a recorded statement was requested
- Whether an authorization was requested, and its scope
- What you were told was required, and on what basis
What was said and agreed
- What you provided or declined to provide
- Any offer made, and whether it was confirmed in writing
- Any deadline you were given
- What was promised, and by when
Documents exchanged
- Letters and emails received, with dates
- Anything you signed, with a copy retained
- Records or bills you sent, and when
- Anything you asked for in writing and did not receive
This is a private record and is not submitted to anyone
Keeping it does not satisfy any policy obligation you may owe your insurer
It does not preserve any filing deadline
It is not legal advice about what you must provide
worksheetInjury consultation worksheet
Turns a first meeting into an assessment by fixing the facts, the documents, and the questions in advance.
Open checklist
How to use it
- Complete the facts and documents sections before the meeting
- Bring your declarations page; coverage questions come up immediately
- Disclose the awkward facts rather than waiting to be asked
- Write the answers down, including who gave them
What happened
- Date, location, and a short factual sequence
- Who else was involved, and any report numbers
- Whether fault has been disputed or assigned to you
- Whether a government entity or business was involved
Injuries and treatment
- Injuries diagnosed, and by whom
- Whether treatment is ongoing or finished
- Any prior injury to the same body part
- Any gap in treatment, and the reason for it
Insurance and money
- Your own declarations page and coverages
- Any other policy that might apply
- Health insurance or program that has paid for treatment
- Losses documented so far, and what is still missing
What you have already done
These change the advice, and every one of them is better raised now than discovered later.
- Statements given, to whom, and whether recorded
- Authorizations or documents signed
- Offers received
- Any other firm you have spoken with or signed with
Questions to ask
- What deadline applies to a claim like mine, and where does it come from?
- Who handles my file, and would it be referred elsewhere?
- How often does this firm try cases?
- Are costs deducted before or after the fee is calculated?
- Do I owe advanced costs if there is no recovery?
- Who resolves liens and reimbursement claims, and is that inside the fee?
- What is the weakest part of my claim?
This does not evaluate your claim or establish its value
It is not submitted to anyone and collects no information about you
Completing it creates no attorney-client relationship
It does not preserve any filing deadline
Federal · U.S. General Services AdministrationSF-95 — Claim for Damage, Injury, or Death
Presents an administrative claim to a federal agency for property damage, personal injury, or death alleged to have been caused by a federal employee acting within the scope of employment.
Form guide
SF-95 — Claim for Damage, Injury, or Death
Presents an administrative claim to a federal agency for property damage, personal injury, or death alleged to have been caused by a federal employee acting within the scope of employment.
Someone whose claim is against the United States. It does not apply to claims against a state, county, city, school district, or other non-federal public body, each of which has its own separate scheme.
Before any lawsuit. Federal law requires a claim to be presented to the appropriate federal agency and denied in writing before an action may be instituted.
- The correct federal agency whose employee is alleged to be responsible
- Date, time, and place of the incident
- A description of what happened and the basis of the claim
- The nature and extent of injury or damage
- A sum certain — a specific dollar amount claimed
- Witness names and contact details, where there are any
What the sections ask for
Section explanations describe what a form is asking for in ordinary language. They are not instructions about what any individual should write, and they do not replace the official instructions published with the form.
Identifies which federal agency is being asked to consider the claim. Presenting to the wrong agency is a common and consequential error.
A description of the incident and why the claimant says a federal employee is responsible.
Asks for a specific figure. The requirement that a claim state a sum certain is why this box matters more than it appears to.
Signed by the claimant or an authorized representative, certifying the claim.
Common mistakes
- Presenting the claim to the wrong federal agency
- Using this form for a claim against a state, county, or city body
- Omitting the sum certain
- Filing suit before the agency has denied the claim in writing
- Assuming the standard form is the only acceptable format when the regulations permit other written notification
Last source check: 2026-08-20 · awaiting attorney review
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Lawyer in Town publishes general legal information for consumers. It is not legal advice, it does not create an attorney-client relationship, and it cannot account for the facts of any individual situation. Laws, court procedures, filing deadlines, and outcomes differ by state and by court, and they change over time. Confirm anything that affects a decision with a lawyer licensed in the relevant jurisdiction.
Negligence is state law. The elements are described here as a widely used analytical structure, not as any state's statutory definition. How duty, breach, and causation are defined, and how multiple responsible parties are treated, differ by state.