A COLLATERAL BENEFITS PRINCIPLE

Authors

  • K D COOPER

Abstract

Accident victims may receive compensation from a single source, or the loss may be spread among a number of sources. When a tort action is relied upon in concert with other sources, then a collateral benefits problem emerges. Should the courts modulate a plaintiff’s tort compensation to account for indemnification from other sources, or should such collateral benefits be ignored? K.D. Cooper asserts a principle for determining in what circumstances such compensation can and should be considered as replacing part of the tort damages. Overlapping benefits intended to indemnify a specific pecuniary loss should be deducted, while benefits intended for other purposes such as to compensate non-pecuniary losses should not.

Keywords:

Damages

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Published

1971-12-01

Issue

Section

Legal Commentary