Applied Law - QCF (Edexcel)

Damages (Part 1)

Damages is the compensation that is earned for any losses that a claimant has been subjected to, this means they will get money back on the value of the goods on the value of the goods that were destroyed or aims to restore the claimant to the conditions they were in before the incident happened so therefore the purpose of damages is to allow the claimant justice by making the defendant responsible for said damages as this makes it fair for both the claimant and the defendant, this is called restorative justice as the purpose is to restore everything to what it once was, it can be argued that this proves difficult when physical injury occurs. Claimants can aim to receive an injunction against the defendant, this legal remedy is enforced to stop the defendant from performing a certain act against the defendant. Damages are calculated by the losses caused, if this is something already of value, the claimant receives payment for the value of the damages already caused but when this includes physical injury for the claimant it becomes harder to calculate so it's split up into three categories, the value of the disability caused, the pain suffered and the amount of future earnings the claimant would earn. Damages can be given in either a lump sum, so all at once, or a structured settlement, bit by bit over a structured period of time.

Damages can be split into two parts, pecuniary and non-pecuniary, pecuniary damages are just financial losses the claimant loses and non-pecuniary are any non financial losses that the claimant is subjected to including pain or suffering experienced. Pecuniary losses are also known as special damages, this can be easily calculated and get the claimant in their original position, this can include anything they have spent regarding what they are claiming for and any damages to properties that they can prove. Non-pecuniary losses also known as general damages cover loss that you can't put a definitive figure on, this includes pain, suffering, medical care and any loss of future earnings that are suffered. Pain and suffering is difficult to calculate, the way it is calculated makes it so it can be proven,so the time spent in the hospital, the extent of the injury, loss of life and quality, psychological and emotional damages.Future loss of earnings is the amount the claimant could have earned multiplied by the amount of earnings left. Future medical care can be calculated through estimation.

The other types of damages are nominal damages and exemplary damages, nominal damages are not really about the amount of money the claimant earned but more amount getting the defendant to acknowledge that what they did was wrong, the defendant doesn't really lose anything, this is usually done when a defendant tresspasses for example. Exemplary damages also known as punitive damages are awarded as an example to other possible defendants to not commit these kinds of acts, this is rarely done but when it is it amounts to a large amount of money.

There are extra payments a claimant can get, these are interim awards and offsets, because a case can take a long time to get to the courts and a claimant is financially impacted they can claim for any issues they face. Offsets are included in a case if the claimant owes the defendant money and contributory negligence can be taken off any compensation the defendant owes and if the claimant was at fault in any way. In other times when a claimant doesn't want money as compensation or can't claim for money they can get an injunction to avoid the defendant repeating their actions.