Casualty Insurance Basics and Liability Concepts
Negligence is the backbone
To collect, a claimant must prove four elements: a duty owed, breach of that duty, proximate cause, and actual damages. Duty varies by relationship: trespassers get the least protection, licensees more, and invitees (business customers) the highest duty of reasonable care and inspection. Special doctrines include attractive nuisance (children and hazards), res ipsa loquitur (the thing speaks for itself - exclusive control plus an accident that ordinarily doesn't happen without negligence), and negligence per se (violation of a safety statute).
Defenses
Contributory negligence bars recovery entirely if the plaintiff was negligent at all - Alabama follows this rule, making it a critical state-specific point. Comparative negligence (pure or modified) reduces the award by the plaintiff's percentage. Other defenses: assumption of risk, intervening/superseding cause, and statute of limitations.
Types of liability
Strict liability (no fault needed - defective products, abnormally dangerous activity), absolute liability (inherently dangerous activities such as blasting), and vicarious liability (employer responsible for an employee's acts within scope). Damages are compensatory - special (medical bills, lost wages, calculable) and general (pain and suffering) - plus punitive damages meant to punish.
Traps
Students confuse general and special damages, and they forget that in Alabama any contributory negligence by the claimant is a complete bar rather than a reduction. Also remember a liability policy pays on behalf of the insured; it does not pay the insured's own injury.
Worked example: A shopper slips on an unmopped spill the store knew about - duty (invitee), breach, proximate cause, special damages (ER bill).