The objective of tort action damages is to make the harmed
or injured individual “whole” by means of the cash award to compensate for
damages and injuries caused by the incident or accident.
Damages for Injuries to Personal Property
The difference between the value directly prior to and
following the injury is computing damages for injury to personal property,
except if the property is damaged, wherein case it is merely the item’s fair
market value. At times, the amount may as well be the value of repair, however,
the value of repair can’t go beyond the property’s fair market value otherwise
the damages might be said to make up economic waste (that is to say, it’d make
more sense and be less expensive to just change the item instead of fixing it).
Damages for Losses to Real Estate
The difference between the land’s fair market value prior to
and following the injury is computing the damages for indefinite damage to real
property such as land. If the devastation is only short-term, damages amount to
the sensible cost of fixing the property including the property use value
throughout the recovery period or the reduction in the property’s rental value.
Lost Earnings
Loss of succeeding earnings is verified with reasonable
assurance through evidence of (a) the cost of lost wages for some ascertainable
period of time and (b) the subsequent period over the wages will be diminished
or lost.
Computing the damages for wage loss is the earned amount of
wages. Retirement contributions, Social Security, or other destitutions may not
be utilized to diminish a complainant’s recovery for the lost wages.
Loss of Consortium
At case law, the term "consortium" was described
as consisting of society, services, as well as sexual relations. The original
case law action was merely accessible to the husband for consortium loss of the
wife. There is a division of authority whether minor children have a lawful
acknowledged claim for impairment or loss of parental consortium. Damages are
computed as the cost of these services.