ABSTRACT

The law of tort deals with conduct that causes harm to a party’s personal, proprietary, or financial interests. A factual situation may give rise to actions in a variety of overlapping torts, for example, it is common to see claims brought in negligence and nuisance. Negligence is the most well-known tort and is concerned with the careless infliction of harm or damage. It has three essential elements, namely: the existence of a legal duty of care; a breach of that duty; and consequential damage. In general, a person acts in breach of a duty of care when behaving carelessly. Today, economic loss is sometimes recoverable in the tort of negligence, but it requires a claimant to prove the exceptional circumstances necessary in order to establish that a defendant owed a duty not to cause such damage. However, economic loss consequential to damage to property is treated separately and is generally recoverable.