What are consequential damages in tort?

Asked by: Leatha Buckridge  |  Last update: September 13, 2022
Score: 4.9/5 (24 votes)

Consequential damages (also known as special damages) are another form of compensatory damages. Special damages do not flow directly and immediately from the defendant's act, but from some of the consequences of the act. They must be causally related to the injury and provable with a reasonable degree of certainty.

What are considered consequential damages?

Commonly, consequential damages include property damage, personal injury, attorneys' fee, lost profits, loss of use, liability of buyer to customers, loss of goodwill, interest on money withheld by customers, and damages related to third party claims.

Are there consequential damages in tort?

Also called special damages, since they result from a breach of contract and yet would not necessarily be incurred by every injured party experiencing that breach. Consequential damages are generally not recoverable in contract disputes, but are recoverable in tort.

What are consequential and punitive damages?

Compensatory damages compensate for the special loss suffered; consequential damages compensate for the foreseeable consequences of the breach; incidental damages compensate for the costs of keeping any more damages from occurring; nominal damages are awarded if the actual amount cannot be shown or there are no actual ...

What is the difference between actual and consequential damages?

While the actual definition of consequential and direct damages seems relatively straightforward, in practice they can become a bit more muddled. In general terms, direct damages immediately stem from the contractual breach, while consequential damages are still related to the breach but without a direct correlation.

Damages in Tort | Law of Tort

36 related questions found

What is the difference between consequential and indirect damages?

Consequential damages are damages that proximately result from a breach of a contract. Consequential damages are also commonly referred to as “indirect damages” because they arise indirectly from a breach due to various events that flow from a breach.

How do you prove consequential damages?

Actual Consequential Damages

To recover consequential damages, the claimant must prove they were (1) proximately caused by the breach and (2) were reasonably foreseeable at the time the parties entered into the contract. Determining foreseeability is one challenge, yet the more difficult hurdle is proving the amount.

Why is consequential damages important?

Consequential damages are mainly associated with (although not limited to it) with the pecuniary loss suffered by the party such as the delay in prospective profits if the breach would not have occurred or the expenses incurred by the injured party in order to rectify the injury or harm caused due to the breach of ...

Are consequential damages part of compensatory damages?

Consequential damages (also known as special damages) are another form of compensatory damages. Special damages do not flow directly and immediately from the defendant's act, but from some of the consequences of the act.

What does no consequential damages mean?

The definition of consequential damages, also known as "special damages," refers to damages from an indirect result of an event or incident.

What is a consequential loss example?

A consequential loss is an indirect loss that accompanies an insured loss, for example the loss of earnings arising from a property fire, experienced by a business insured against fire.

Why are consequential damages excluded?

Exclusions of consequential damages are among the most common and important provisions in a wide variety of contracts. They can significantly reduce the breaching party's liability, sometimes by staggering amounts of money.

Which is an example of a consequential or indirect loss?

Till the owner purchases a new set of machinery, the operations will remain halted. This loss due to the halting of daily business operations is an example of consequential loss as it is an indirect loss. It is not covered under the insurance for direct losses.

What are consequential costs?

Consequential damages arise when a party fails to fulfil their obligations under the contract and the other party suffers damages as a result.

What is meant by consequential loss?

Definition of 'consequential loss'

A consequential loss is a loss that follows another loss that is caused by a danger that has been insured against. The loss of ongoing profit because of the inability to continue trading is a consequential loss.

Are liquidated damages consequential damages?

The parties should be careful to guard against the recovery being overly disproportionate to actual damages. Thus—should the agreed amount of liquidated damages be in gross excess of actual consequential damages—courts have generally construed the provision for liquidated damages to be an unenforceable penalty.

What are the four types of damages?

One of the most common remedies comes in the form of damages, or monetary awards, which are further broken down into four general categories.
  • Compensatory Damages. Compensatory damages (or “actual damages”) are specifically meant to make up for the plaintiff's losses. ...
  • Punitive Damages. ...
  • Liquidation Damages. ...
  • Nominal Damages.

Are consequential damages general damages?

The distinction between general [or direct] and special [or consequential] damages is not that one is and the other is not the direct and proximate consequence of the breach complained of, but that general [or direct] damages are such as naturally and ordinarily follow the breach, whereas special [or consequential] ...

Are repair costs consequential damages?

Where an owner must undertake repair work to existing conditions in order to access and remediate the defective work, the damages resulting therefrom may be covered. Thus, costs and expenses relating to this activity are considered part of consequential damages for which there should be coverage.

Can you claim for consequential loss?

It is recoverable only if the paying party knew or should have known of that circumstance when it made the contract, under the second limb of the rule in Hadley v Baxendale [1854] EWHC Exch J70. By definition, therefore, consequential losses are exceptional and often not recoverable.

Can you disclaim consequential damages?

Disclaimers of Consequential Damages.

Generally speaking, if you are the buyer under a supply agreement, you will want to resist a disclaimer (even a mutual disclaimer) of consequential damages, because it is much more likely to benefit the seller of the product than it is to benefit you as the buyer.

What are examples of indirect damages?

Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Indirect Damages shall include loss of profits, loss of revenue, loss of production, loss of earnings, loss of contract, cost of capital, cost of purchased or replacement capacity or energy, loss of any use of any facilities or property owned, leased or operated by any ...

What is the difference between direct loss and consequential loss?

Generally, the direct loss would be the difference between the contract price and the market price of those goods or services. This is the “normal loss”. The consequential losses are any other losses beyond this measure that are caused by the breach and not too remote.

Are consequential damages indirect damages?

Consequential damages vs indirect damages

Consequential damages are also referred to as special damages or indirect damages. Such indirect damages are damages that do not necessarily flow from the breach of contract but are secondary in nature or indirect to breach.

Are consequential damages enforceable?

Whether consequential damages clauses may be enforceable largely depends on the language of the contract. However, regardless of what the contract or the clause itself says, these clauses are generally considered to be unenforceable because parties do not write them with an acceptable amount of care.