In law, a claim for damages arises from a wrongful or unlawful act or omission or a breach of contract which causes loss. Whether the source of a claim for damages is a contract or a delict (Wrongful act or omission), the quantification of damages remains consistent, and this is where lawyers are important. A claim for damages is not complete without the aggrieved party suffering damages.

An essential component of a claim for damages is that the aggrieved party must have suffered a loss in one form or the other. One of the most common questions an aggrieved party puts to his lawyer is how the loss will be qualified? The qualification process of damages involves an investigation into the reduction in values of elements in the patrimony (“Estate”) of an aggrieved party. Let us break it down further.

Causes of Damages

Loss can be manifest itself in a patrimonial element. For example; 

• Where an aggrieved party’s goods are stolen and wants to claim the value of the goods. A reduction in the value of a patrimonial element entails the reduction or diminishment of value of an asset as a result of conduct or breach.
• Where there is a creation of debt and the delay in receiving benefits. This is where an aggrieved party incur reasonable expenses or needs to incur reasonable expenses in order to obtain performance elsewhere – this is a particular cause where there is claim for damages as a result of a construction dispute. 
• In personal injury claims, one of the prevalent causes are the creation or acceleration of debt. Where a party incurs an expense as result of an injury which has been accelerated as a result of the damage-causing event.

How the Cause Translate to Damages

In the Eastern Cape Division case Oryx Properties Limited v Ukuvula Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd (2014/2017), the court had to decide whether to grant summary judgement. The Facts of the matter were briefly that the applicant let premises to the respondent. The respondent only paid certain rental amounts and failed to pay the majority of it’s rental. The applicant’s claim was based on various causes of damages relating to the grounds as set out above. The respondent was of the view that damages claimed by the applicant were not quantified. The causes of damages in the applicant’s claim related to arrear rates owing (expense incurred), arrear monthly rentals and rates (expense incurred) and damages (incurring debt and delay in receiving benefits ie rental income). The cause of damages here related to the creation of debt and the delay in receiving benefits. The applicant further had to incur expenses in order to let the premises again. This is the cause where an expense needs to be incurred in order to obtain performance elsewhere. The above gives an indication as to what is generally accepted as causes for damages. These grounds however, are not exhaustive.

Conclusion

When a party seeks to institute action against another party, it is important that the above factors are considered. Although not a concrete methodology as courts have the discretion to deviate, the aggrieved party may still find it useful to investigate the scope of loss before deciding on whether to claim or not.

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Written by Hamlet Heneke, Professional Assistant, Attorney, Schoeman Law