Tortfeasor

A tortfeasor is the legal term for a person who commits a tort, meaning a civil wrong such as negligent driving, that causes loss or injury to someone else.

In a road accident case, the tortfeasor is usually the driver whose carelessness caused the crash, and their insurer typically becomes the party who pays under the claim explained in what a running-down claim is. More than one tortfeasor can be involved in the same accident.

The term appears mostly in legal documents and case law rather than in everyday conversation about a claim.

A passenger injured by their own driver’s carelessness can also treat that driver as the tortfeasor, even though they were travelling in the same vehicle. The label does not depend on how well you knew the person at fault.