Non pecuniary losses

Non pecuniary losses can be characterized as losses that are suffered by damaging goods or interests which have in themselves no economic price or value on a financial market. Examples are damage to goods with a primarily sentimental value, such as an album of wedding photos, pain and suffering as a result of physical injury, damage to personal reputation, or even the death of a person. Due to the fact that these goods or interests have no substantial or direct market value, non pecuniary losses are often characterized as losses that cannot be undone with money. Rogers (2001, p. 246) defines non pecuniary losses as “losses which are not damage to a person’s assets or wealth or income and which is are therefore incapable of being quantified in objective financial manner by reference to a market”. Tort law, however, generally recognizes non pecuniary losses to some extent as losses that should be compensated with money.