Damages

• The purpose of damages is to put the victim in the position they would have been in if the contract had been properly completed and performed.
• Nominal damages - awarded if no loss is actually suffered but the breach has been established (Staniforth).
• Wrotham Park Damages - awarded where the claimant would have very real problems in establishing financial loss and it is a just response to a breach of contract (Wrotham Park Estate Co.).
• Damages for loss of bargain can be claimed with the aim to place the C in the same financial position as if the contract had been properly performed (Bence Graphics International)
• Where there is a market, damages will be the difference between the contract price and the price obtained in the market (Charter).
• There can be a claim for the profit that they would have been able to complete but for the breach in future contracts (Victoria Laundry Ltd.)
• Reliance loss is the expenses incurred by a claimant who relied on a contract being performed (Anglia Television).
• Restitution is a repayment of any money or other benefits passed to the D in advance of the contract being breached.
• There can be highly speculative damages for mental distress (Ruxley Electronics and Construction) but these are rarer.
• The party injured by a breach of contract must take reasonable steps to minimize the effects of the breach (British Westinghouse Electric)
• Liquidated damages are where the amount of damages has been fixed by a term in the contract (Dunlop)
• Quantum meruit is the recovery of an unqualified sum for services already rendered (Upton Rural District Council).