Personal injury glossary - D

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This personal injury glossary provides explanations in plain English of a number of technical terms you may encounter in the process of pursuing a personal injury claim.

Damages - Compensation received by the claimant.

Default judgement - If a party fails to respond to a claim within a time limit set out by law, the court can rule in favour of the other party.

Defective premises - Poorly constructed or poorly maintained buildings. If you’ve been involved in an accident because of this, your landlord or builder may be at fault.

Defence - A statement from the defendant in response to a claimant’s version of events. The defence can either argue that the claimant has no ground for legal action, or will oppose particular parts of the claimant’s arguments.

Defendant - The party who legal action is brought against.

Disclosure - The process of revealing certain documents to the other party in a legal matter.

Duty of care - A requirement that a person or organisation behave in a way that avoids acts or omissions that are likely to cause harm to others.

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