Damages in UK Law

Leading Cases
  • Davies v Powell Duffryn Associated Collieries (No. 2)
    • House of Lords
    • 27 Abril 1942

    In effect the Court, before it interferes with an award of damages, should be satisfied that the Judge has acted upon a wrong principle of law, or has misapprehended the facts, or has for these or other reasons made a wholly erroneous estimate of the damage suffered. It is not enough that there is a balance of opinion or preference. The scale must go down heavily against the figure attacked if the Appellate Court is to interfere, whether on the ground of excess or insufficiency.

  • Doyle v Olby (Ironmongers) Ltd
    • Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
    • 31 Enero 1969

    In contract, the damages are limited to what may reasonably be supposed to have been in this contemplation of the parties. The defendant is bound to make reparation for all the actual damages directly flowing from the fraudulent inducement. All such damages can be recovered: and it does not lie in the mouth of the fraudulent person to say that they could not reasonably have been foreseen.

  • British Transport Commission v Gourley
    • House of Lords
    • 08 Diciembre 1955

    In an action for personal injuries the damages are always divided into two main parts. First, there is what is referred to as special damage which has to be specially pleaded and proved. This consists of out-of-pocket expenses and loss of earnings incurred down to the date of trial, and is generally capable of substantially exact calculation. Secondly, there is general damage which the law implies and is not specially pleaded.

  • Rookes v Barnard
    • House of Lords
    • 21 Enero 1964

    It extends to cases in which the Defendant is seeking to gain at the expense of the Plaintiff some object,—perhaps some property which he covets,—which either he could not obtain at all or not obtain except at a price greater than he wants to put down. Exemplary damages can properly be awarded whenever it is necessary to teach a wrongdoer that tort does not pay.

  • Anns v Merton London Borough Council
    • House of Lords
    • 12 Mayo 1977

    First one has to ask whether, as between the alleged wrongdoer and the person who has suffered damage there is a sufficient relationship of proximity or neighbourhood such that, in the reasonable contemplation of the former, carelessness on his part may be likely to cause damage to the latter—in which case a prima facie duty of care arises.

    Nature of the damages recoverable and arising of the cause of action. Subject always to adequate proof of causation, these damages may include damages for personal injury and damage to property. In my opinion they may also include damage to the dwelling-house itself; for the whole purpose of the byelaws in requiring foundations to be of certain standard is to prevent damage arising from weakness of the foundations which is certain to endanger the health or safety of occupants.

  • Broome v Cassell & Company Ltd
    • House of Lords
    • 23 Febrero 1972

    Such actions involve a money award which may put the plaintiff in a purely financial sense in a much stronger position than he was before the wrong. Not merely can he recover the estimated sum of his past and future losses, but, in case the libel, driven underground, emerges from its lurking place at some future date, he must be able to point to a sum awarded by a jury sufficient to convince a bystander of the baselessness of the charge.

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Legislation
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Books & Journal Articles
  • Damages
    • Construction Law. Volume II - Third Edition
    • Julian Bailey
    • 1141-1271
  • Contract Damages, Corrective Justice and Punishment
    • No. 70-6, November 2007
    • The Modern Law Review
    This article re‐examines the established principle that contract damages compensate but do not punish from the theoretical perspective of corrective justice and, in particular, the version advocate...
  • Sweden: Million Pound Damages for Wrong Tax Advice
    • No. 4-1, March 1996
    • Journal of Financial Crime
    • 90-92
    A recent civil court ruling heralds a new perception of tax cases by the Swedish courts. The focus is shifted from the company owner to the tax adviser. This opens ways to improve the effectiveness...
  • Rethinking Richardson: Sexual Harassment Damages in the #MeToo Era
    • No. 49-2, June 2021
    • Federal Law Review
    The 2014 judgment in Richardson v Oracle Corporation Australia Pty Ltd (‘Richardson’) had a seismic effect on workplace sexual harassment claims in Australia. Overnight, the ‘general range’ of dama...
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Law Firm Commentaries
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Forms
  • delivery of goods, damages and costs: Form No.64
    • HM Courts & Tribunals Service court and tribunal forms
    King's Bench forms for use in cases such as personal injury, negligence and breach of contract.
  • Respond to an RTA personal injury claim
    • HM Courts & Tribunals Service court and tribunal forms
    Road Traffic Act (RTA) personal injury forms including the form to contest an RTA claim.
    ... ... (including ref.) ... (including ref.) ... Tick only one box ... I do not intend to contest the claim ... I intend to contest the amount of damages claimed but not the making of an order for damages ... I intend to contest the making of an order for damages ... I intend to dispute the court’s ... ...
  • Shortened PF52 in the Queen's Bench Division for multi-track case and costs management directions in Mesothelioma and Asbestosis claims
    • HM Courts & Tribunals Service court and tribunal forms
    King's Bench forms for use in cases such as personal injury, negligence and breach of contract.
    ... ...   (1) [By consent] judgment be entered for the Claimant against the [     ] Defendant on the issue of liability for damages to be assessed by the Court with costs [summarily assessed at £…] [to be the subject of detailed assessment if not agreed] ...   (2)   ... ...
  • Judgment after trial before Judge without jury (Practice Direction 40B para 14.1(1))
    • HM Courts & Tribunals Service court and tribunal forms
    King's Bench forms for use in cases such as personal injury, negligence and breach of contract.
    ... ...   or in a personal injury claim- ...  the defendant pay the claimant the sum of £      (being (1) £       special damages and £         [agreed interest] [interest thereon at the rate of (   )% from (date) to the date of this order] (2) ... ...
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