Incidental Damages

Nick bought an expensive Tuxedo from a dealer at $700. Extremely happy, he came back home and realized that it was not the one he wanted. Its value was around $100 actually. Nick filed a lawsuit against that dealer and demanded for compensation. Once all the facts were verified, Nick was compensated for the loss he had incurred.

In legal terms, what Nick got back is called damages. In legal jargon it refers to money claimed by or ordered to be paid to an individual to compensate for an injury or a loss or a breach of contract. The compensation depends on the type of damages. Amongst a number of categories of damages in the legal periphery, there is one category which is called incidental damages. These are damages where the core is the same that a financial loss or injury to a person or property is compensated. In case you fancy yourself with the legal nitty gritties, then this is for you!

What are Damages in Legal Terms

Before we go on to describing what are incidental damages, let us first check out what is the exact meaning and implication of damages in legal terms. Damages in legal terms refer to money paid to a person to compensate for a loss or injury. The most common types of damages claimed are compensatory and general damages. There are also special damages too. While general damages provide for non monetary aspects of the loss or injury, compensatory or actual damages focus solely on the monetary aspects of the loss or injury. So this provision in the American commercial law is to protect the consumer from being cheated and from a breach of contract.

This is what is damages in the law books. This is a major chunk of law in connection with finance and commerce. All the same, let us move on to incidental damages.

Definition of Incidental Damage

Incidental damages come under the umbrella of special damages, along with consequential damages. Under the Uniform Commercial Code, incidental damages are expenses reasonably incurred by either party to a transaction in caring for goods after the other party's breach of the contract. However, there are a couple of aspects of this category of damages, as mentioned in the Uniform Commercial Code, Section 2-710 and 715. The following is what is mentioned in these sections.

Section 2-710
This section of the Uniform Commercial Code states - Incidental damages to an aggrieved seller include any commercially reasonable charges, expenses or commissions incurred in stopping delivery, in the transportation, care and custody of goods after the buyer's breach, in connection with return or resale of the goods or otherwise resulting from the breach. This one is for the seller, to compensate for loss incurred as a result of the buyer acting funny.

Section 2-715(1)
This section is from the perspective of the buyer. It states - Incidental damages resulting from the seller's breach include expenses reasonably incurred in inspection, receipt, transportation and care and custody of goods rightfully rejected, any commercially reasonable charges, expenses or commissions in connection with effecting cover and any other reasonable expense incident to the delay or other breach.

This was just to give you a fundamental idea of incidental damages. There are a lot of legalities, twists and turns involved. It will be best to remember that you can sue someone for breaching a contract related to a thing or a property. On the contrary if you play mischief, incidental damages can be slapped on you. I sign off here!