Damage

The claimant (C) must show that the defendant's (D) breach of duty caused the damage, which may be to themselves or their property. 

Damage in tort is basically causation - but with civil cases. The C must establish both factual and legal causation. 

Factual Causation

This uses the 'but for' test. It asks, if the D had not breached their duty of care, would the consequence have happened? 

The case that illustrates this is Barnett v Chelsea & Kensington hospitals (1969) where three night watchmen went to A&E complaining of sickness after drinking tea. The on-duty doctor sent them home and told them to see their own doctors, however one of the men (C's husband) died during the night of arsenic poisoning (which was in the tea accidentally), so the V's wife sued the hospital for negligence. The C was able to show a duty of care and a breach of this duty by the doctor's failure to examine the V, however, although the hospital had been negligent in failing to examine the men, there was no proof that the V's death was caused…