What is actual damages in legal terms?

Asked by: Emilia Pagac  |  Last update: February 19, 2022
Score: 4.8/5 (67 votes)

Overview. In tort law, actual damages is a type of damages which refers to compensation awarded by a court in response to a loss suffered by a party. ... This award does not include punitive damages, which may be awarded when the defendant's actions are especially reckless or malicious.

What are examples of actual damages?

Examples of Actual Compensatory Damages
  • Medical and hospital bills.
  • Medical treatments.
  • Rehabilitation expenses.
  • Physical therapy.
  • Ambulance expenses.
  • Medicine and Prescription drugs.
  • Nursing home care.
  • Domestic services.

What is the difference between actual damages and punitive damages?

While courts grant actual damages to plaintiffs to compensate them for a loss they have suffered, they impose punitive damages on a defendant to discourage the behavior that led to the defendant being sued in the first place.

What is the difference between actual and special damages?

General damages represent the types of damages that can't easily be assigned a monetary value, such as pain and suffering, loss of consortium and emotional trauma. ... Special damages, on the other hand, are unique (or “special”) to you because no other plaintiff will have the precise amount of financial losses as you do.

Are actual damages the same as direct damages?

Direct Damages means actual damages or losses suffered by me or any other party (if caused by you) and shall not include any compensation for special, punitive, indirect, incidental or consequential damages or losses, including but not limited to loss of profits, business or value, whether or not foreseeable.

Legal Term: Damages

42 related questions found

Do actual damages include emotional distress?

In a 5-3 decision in Federal Aviation Administration v. Cooper, Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, said “actual damages” in context of the Privacy Act do not include damages for mental or emotional distress and the government maintains sovereign immunity from such claims under the act.

Do actual damages include consequential damages?

Consequential damages are not direct damages but are damages that necessarily arise from the specific nature of the breach of contract.

Which of the following describes actual damages as awarded in some legal cases?

Actual damages awards are designed to make the victim whole by compensating the victim for the harm that has been suffered (past damages) as of the time of trial and all damages likely to be suffered after the trial (future damages). ... Earnings without Injury - Anticipated earnings with injury.

What is a nominal damage?

A trivial sum of money awarded to a plaintiff whose legal right has been technically violated but who has not established that they are entitled to compensatory damages because there was no accompanying loss or harm. ... Barker the court held that the plaintiff was entitled to nominal damages of $100.

What are general damages in a lawsuit?

General damages are intangible, non-monetary losses that do not have an exact dollar amount. There are several types of general damages: Pain and suffering. Mental anguish.

What are the purposes of nominal damages actual damages and punitive damages?

Nominal damages are damages in name only, a trifling sum awarded to recognize an infringement of rights without resulting substantial loss or injury. Punitive damages are a penalty used where a defendant's conduct has been particularly egregious, vindictive, or malicious; they are not compensation for injury.

What are the most frequently awarded legal damages?

Compensatory damages: This is the most common breach of contract remedy. When compensatory damages are awarded, a court orders the person that breached the contract to pay the other person enough money to get what they were promised in the contract elsewhere.

What are three types of damages recoverable in a lawsuit?

There are three types of damage that form the foundation of most civil lawsuits: compensatory, nominal, and punitive.

Are lost wages actual damages?

California law allows for plaintiffs to recover lost wages in personal injury cases. ... Both lost wages and lost earning capacity are part of the compensatory damages a plaintiff can recover for a defendant's negligence, gross negligence, recklessness, intentional wrongful acts or strict liability.

What are real damages tort?

Damage is the loss suffered by the person due to the wrongful act of another person whereas, Damages is the amount of money which is paid as compensation for the injury suffered by a person. So, damages are different from damage and it is one of the remedies which is available to the plaintiff.

What are the types of damages?

What are the different types of damages?
  • General and Special Damages.
  • Substantial Damages.
  • Aggravated and Exemplary Damages.
  • Liquidated and Unliquidated Damages.
  • Consequential Damage and Incidental Loss.

What is a nominal damages in contract law?

nominal damages in American English

plural noun. Law. damages of a small amount awarded to a plaintiff where substantial compensable loss has not been established but legal rights were violated.

What are some examples of nominal damages?

When Can Nominal Damages Be Awarded?
  • The value of the loss cannot be determined;
  • The contract case is also combined with a tort claim. Common examples include fraud or coercion; and. ...
  • The defendant acted in bad faith during contract negotiations or when executing their obligations under the contract.

What is nominal damages tort law?

Nominal damages, usually of a token sum, are awarded where a tort is actionable per se and where the plaintiff is unable to prove any injury, loss or damage. It provides mere recognition that the wrong has occurred but where the wrong was not a serious infringement of the plaintiff's rights.

How are damages determined?

The damages to which you are entitled are typically calculated based on the severity of your injuries, the underlying circumstances of the incident in question, and whether the case settles or proceeds to a trial.

Do Compensatory damages include legal fees?

The Supreme Court of California has ruled that a trial court's post-verdict award of attorneys' fees to an insured may be included in the amount of compensatory damages awarded to the insured for purposes of determining the punitive-compensatory damages ratio.

Are emotional distress damages compensatory?

Emotional distress damages are a subset of what are commonly called “compensatory damages.”

What kind of damages will be awarded when there is no actual financial loss?

(2) If the breach caused no loss or if the amount of the loss is not proved under the rules stated in this Chapter, a small sum fixed without regard to the amount of loss will be awarded as nominal damages.

How do you explain direct damages?

Direct damages are “the necessary and usual result of the defendant's wrongful act; they flow naturally and necessarily from the wrong.”[1] Direct damages are intended to compensate the plaintiff for the loss incurred that was foreseeable by the defendant from his wrongful act.

What are contingent damages?

Where a demurrer has been filed to one or more counts in a declaration, and its consideration is postponed, and meanwhile other counts in the same declaration, not demurred to, are taken as issues, and tried, and damages awarded upon them, such damages are called “contingent damages.”