FLK1 · Tort

Remedies & damages in tort

SQE1 revision notes — the key rules, leading cases and common traps for this topic, in plain English and current to 2026.

TOR.10 — Remedies & Damages in Tort

The compensatory aim

The governing principle is restitutio in integrum: put the claimant in the position they would have been in had the tort not occurred (Livingstone v Rawyards Coal (1880)). Tort looks backward to restore the status quo ante — contrast contract, which protects the expectation/forward-looking interest.

Categories of damages

Special damages — accrued, precisely calculable pre-trial losses (lost earnings to date, medical bills, repair costs). Pleaded and proved as exact figures.
General damages — non-precise future/non-pecuniary losses, assessed by the court: PSLA (pain, suffering, loss of amenity), future loss of earnings, future care.
Aggravated (compensate for injury to feelings/dignity from the manner of the wrong) vs exemplary/punitive (punish; only in the three Rookes v Barnard categories: oppressive/unconstitutional government action; conduct calculated to profit; statute authorises).
Nominal (right infringed, no loss — e.g. trespass) vs contemptuous damages.

Personal injury quantum

PSLA: tariff by reference to the Judicial College Guidelines plus comparable awards.
Future loss of earnings: multiplicand × multiplier, the multiplier set using the Ogden Tables and the statutory discount rate (currently +0.5% in England & Wales from 11 Jan 2025 under the Damages Act 1996 / Civil Liability Act 2018).
Lump sum vs periodical payments orders (PPOs) — court may order PPOs (Damages Act 1996 s.2) for future loss/care.
Deductions: recoupment of state benefits (Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997).

Limits and reductions

Causation, remoteness (The Wagon Mound — reasonable foreseeability of type of damage), and mitigation cap recovery — the claimant cannot recover avoidable losses.
Contributory negligence reduces damages by a "just and equitable" proportion (Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945 s.1) — a reduction, never a complete defence.

Equitable & other remedies

Injunctions (prohibitory/mandatory; interim per American Cyanamid; quia timet) — discretionary; damages in lieu under Senior Courts Act 1981 s.50 (the Shelfer/Coventry v Lawrence approach in nuisance).
Abatement (self-help, nuisance) — use cautiously.

Common traps

Don't apply contract's expectation measure to tort.
Contributory negligence reduces; it does not bar.
Exemplary damages are exceptional — confined to the Rookes v Barnard categories.
The discount rate is positive (+0.5%) in E&W — increases the multiplier reduction; do not confuse with the old −0.25%/−0.75% rates.
Aggravated ≠ exemplary: one compensates, the other punishes.

Try a real SQE1 question

Straight from the bank. Answer it, then see the worked reasoning and the tutor — no signup to try.

A man is a front-seat passenger in a car driven by a friend. The friend drives negligently and collides with another vehicle. The man was not wearing his seatbelt. Medical evidence establishes that had he worn the seatbelt his injuries would have been substantially less severe, though he would still have suffered some injury from the impact. The man sues his friend in negligence. Liability for the collision is admitted. The defendant argues that the man's damages should be reduced because of his failure to wear a seatbelt.

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