14.15 Damages.

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

14.15 Damages. Under general tort principles, a plaintiff must prove actual injury or damages before he can maintain a cause of action in negligence against a defendant.¹⁹⁵ Damage awards in negligence cases are intended to compensate the claimant for losses caused by the defendant’s negligent conduct.¹⁹⁶ In the insurance context, such awards are intended to place insureds as nearly as possible in the position they would have occupied had the wrong not occurred, by allowing damages to cover the uninsured loss.¹⁹⁷

Available pecuniary damages are not merely insurance contract, or “benefit-of-the-bargain” damages – the amount the policy would have provided if in force at the time of loss.¹⁹⁸ Depending on the coverage in question, pecuniary damages also may compensate a plaintiff for any...