Damages can refer to harm suffered by a claimant in civil action or to the money paid or awarded to the plaintiff in compensation for such harm. Types of damages include special damages, general damages, punitive damages and compensatory damages, statutory damages, restitution or disgorgement damages, economic damages, and nominal damages. Each damage is further explained below.

• Special damages: these are the enumerable or quantifiable monetary costs or losses suffered by the plaintiff. 

• General damages: these damages cover harm and loss that have a subjective value attached to them. Common types of general damages include personal injury, physical or emotional pain and suffering.

• Compensatory damages: this type of damage is generally awarded for civil cases. They are given to the successful party. For the plaintiff they are awarded for the pain undergone and in the case of the defendant they are awarded for legal services and all hardships undergone during the trial.

• Statutory damages: this is a pre-established damages for cases where calculating a correct sum is deemed difficult. They are often calculated as a multiple of the price for the uses of the infringed right. 

• Punitive damages: punitive damages are not awarded in order to compensate the plaintiff but in order to reform or deter the defendant and similar persons from pursuing a course of action such as that which caused the damage to the plaintiff. 

• Restitionary or disgorgement damages: for these damages the defendant is made to give up the profits made through the civil wrong of the plaintiff.

• Nominal damages: these damages are very small damages awarded to show that the loss or harm suffered was technical rather than actual. 

• Economic damages: for civil litigation these are computed as the financial loss suffered by a person due to the wrongful actions of another person. This wrongful action can be accidental or deliberate.