Hold harmless: Difference between revisions

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It is a slightly odd undertaking, because as a general proposition, a contracting party is not liable for damages the other suffers unless they are caused by a [[breach of contract]] — that is, a [[hold harmless]] isolates a party from a liability it shouldn't have under the [[contract]] in the first place. It may operate to shut down an argument based on an implied term, or prevent a claim in [[tort]] arising from faithful performance of the contract (don’t get me started on [[concurrent liability]]).
A [[hold harmless]] is thus a slightly odd undertaking, because as a general proposition, a contracting party would not be liable for losses the other suffers unless they are caused by its [[breach of contract]] — that is, a [[hold harmless]] isolates a party from a liability it shouldn't have under a [[contract]] in the first place. It may operate to shut down an argument based on an [[Implied terms|implied term]], or prevent a claim in [[tort]] arising from faithful performance of the contract that somehow breaches a non-contractual [[duty of care]] to the other party (don’t get me started on [[concurrent liability]]).


{{box|The paradigm case is the parking building that asks its customers to hold it harmless for damage or theft to their vehicles while parked in the parking building.}}
{{box|The paradigm case is the parking building that asks its customers to hold it harmless for damage or theft to their vehicles while parked in the parking building.}}


===Not to be confused with an [[indemnity]]===
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{{c2|contract|damages}}
{{c2|contract|damages}}