Template:Loss v damages: Difference between revisions

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 Quick reminder: in the law of [[contract]] “losses” and “damages are” different, though related things.
-''[[Losses]]'' are pecuniary misfortunes that you might suffer as a result of a breach of contract. They can be divided into ''direct'' losses and ''indirect'', or ''consequential'' losses.
+'''[[Losses]]''' are pecuniary misfortunes that you might suffer as a result of a breach of contract. They can be divided into:
+:“'''Direct'''” losses, that are the natural and foreseeable consequence of breach of contract.
+:“'''Indirect'''” or “'''consequential'''” losses, which are a more speculative nature.
+:“'''[[Account for profit]]'''”, which is an order than a wrongdoer hands over actual profits from a breach of duty to a property owner. These are available in trust and agency scenarios, and for misuse of physical or intellectual property, but are ''not'' a remedy for breach of contract.
+Note that “'''[[loss of profit]]'''” and “'''[[loss of opportunity]]'''” are not judicially recognised categories of loss: they can be either ''direct'' — for example, foregone [[interest]] on a defaulted payment — or ''indirect'' — the winnings you would have got from putting that defaulted payment on a rank outsider who came good in the 2:35 at Kempton — but if in doubt (i.e., not a natural consequence of the breach) assume they will be indirect
-''[[Damages]]'' are the amounts a court orders a naughty counterparty to pay to an innocent one as ''compensation'' for its loss. They may, or may not, be the same amount as the actual losses suffered.
+'''[[Damages]]''' are the amounts a court orders a naughty counterparty to pay to an innocent one as ''compensation'' for its loss. They may, or may not, be the same amount as the actual losses suffered. Damages may be:
-Damages may be ''general'', if they compensate for direct losses, or special, if they relate to indirect losses. (There are also [[Exemplary damages|“punitive”, or “exemplary” damages]], but ''these are not available under English law for breach of contract''.
+:“'''[[General damages|General]]'''” damages, if they compensate for [[direct loss|direct losses]].
+:“'''[[Special damages|Special]]'''” damages, if they relate to [[indirect loss|indirect losses]]. Awards of [[special damages]] are rare in contract cases, even when they are not specifically excluded by contract which, in the world of finance, they usually are.
-[[Special damages]], as compensation for [[indirect loss|indirect losses]], are extremely rare in contract — when they are not ruled out explicitly which, in the world of finance, they usually are.
+:[[Exemplary damages|“'''Punitive'''” or “'''exemplary'''”]] damages, that do not compenstate for loss at all, but rather punish a wrongdoer for outrageous behaviour. These are not available under English law for breach of contract, but may be awarded — extremely rarely — in cases of tort, or breach of [[trust]].
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