- loss
- Loss is a generic and relative term. It signifies the act of losing or the thing lost; it is not a word of limited, hard and fast meaning and has been held synonymous with, or equivalent to, "damage", "damages", "deprivation", "detriment", "injury", and "privation". Mason v. City of Albertville, 276 Ala. 68, 158 So.2d 924, 927.It may mean expenses exceeding costs; actual losses, N. L. R. B. v. Cowell Portland Cement Co., C.C.A.9, 148 F.2d 237, 246;bad and uncollectible accounts, damage, Wilbur v. U. S. ex rel. C. L. Wold Co., 58 App.D.C. 347, 30 F.2d 871, 872;a decrease in value of resources or increase in liabilities; depletion or depreciation or destruction of value; deprivation; destruction, Wells v. Thomas W. Garland, Inc., Mo.App., 39 S.W.2d 409, 411; detriment, United States v. City Nat. Bank of Duluth, D.C.Minn., 31 F.Supp. 530, 534, 535;failure to keep that which one has or thinks he has; injury, United Service Automobile Ass'n v. Miles, 139 Tex. 138, 161 S.W.2d 1048;privation, United States v. City Nat. Bank of Duluth, D.C.Minn., 31 F.Supp. 530, 534, 535;ruin, Logan v. Johnson, 218 N.C. 200, 10 S.E.2d 653, 655;shrinkage in value of estate or property; state or fact of being lost or destroyed, Logan v. Johnson, 218 N.C. 200, 10 S.E.2d 653, 655;that which is gone and cannot be recovered or that which is withheld or that of which a party is dispossessed, Walker v. Thomas, 64 App.D.C. 148, 75 F.2d 667, 669; Surety Co., 60 S.D. 100, 243 N.W. 664, 666;unintentional parting with something of value, Providence Journal Co. v. Broderick, C.C.A.R.I., 104 F.2d 614, 616.The word in insurance policy in its common usage means a state of fact of being lost or destroyed, ruin or destruction. Sitzman v. National Life & Ace. Ins. Co., 133 Ind.App. 578, 182 N.E.2d 448, 450.See also actual loss- capital (capital loss); casualty loss; consequential loss; constructive loss; constructive total loss; damages; direct loss; disaster loss; general average loss; hobby loss; net operating loss; pain and suffering; partial loss; pecuniary injury; pecuniary loss; reasonable certainty, rule of; total loss.As to loss of consortium, see consortium; salvage loss, see salvage; proof of loss, see proofCompare profit.Disability benefitsState workers' compensation laws, social security, and disability insurance contracts provide disability benefits for partial or permanent loss of use of limbs, eyes, etc. Insurance. Ascertained liability of insurer, Michel v. American Fire & Casualty Co., C.C.A.Fla., 82 F.2d 583, 586;decrease in value of resources or increase in liabilities; depletion or depreciation or destruction or shrinkage of value; injury, damage, etc., to property or persons injured; Miles v. United Services Automobile Ass'n, Tex.Civ.App., 149 S.W.2d 233, 235, 236;injury or damage sustained by insured in consequence of happening of one or more of the accidents or misfortunes against which insurer has undertaken to indemnify the insured; pecuniary injury resulting from the occurrence of the contingency insured against, Ocean Accident & Guarantee Corporation v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., C.C.A.MO., 100 F.2d 441, 446.Word "loss" implies that property is no longer in existence. Littrell v. Allemannia Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa., 222 App.Div. 302, 226 N.Y.S. 243, 244."Loss of eye" means loss of use for any practical purpose, Order of United Commercial Travelers of America v. Knorr, C.C.A.Kan., 112 F.2d 679, 682.Loss of member or loss of an entire member means destruction of usefulness of member or entire member for purposes to which in its normal condition it is susceptible of application, in absence of more specific definition. Loss of use of hand means substantial and material impairment of use in practical performance of its function. Loss of use of member is equivalent to loss of member, Continental Casualty Co. v. Linn, 226 Ky. 328, 10 S.W.2d 1079, 1082, Noel v. Continental Casualty Co., 138 Kan. 136, 23 P.2d 610.Loss of vision to extent that one cannot perceive and distinguish objects is "loss of sight". To constitute "loss or damage by fire" existence of actual fire, which becomes uncontrollable or breaks out from where it was intended to be and becomes a hostile element, is sufficient. Princess Garment Co. v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co. of San Francisco, Cal., C.C.A.Ohio, 115 F.2d 380, 382.The word "loss" in insurance policy in its common usage means a state of fact of being lost or destroyed, ruin or destruction. Sitzman v. National Life & Ace. Ins. Co., 133 Ind.App. 578, 182 N.E.2d 448, 450@ loss carry-backSee carry-back@ loss carry-over@ loss carry forward@ loss carry-over or carry-forwardloss carry-over (or carry forward)See carry-over@ loss leaderItem sold by a merchant at very low price and sometimes below cost in order to attract people to store with the hope that they will buy additional items on which a profit will be made.See also bait and switch@ loss of bargainUnder "loss of bargain" rule, applicable in common-law contract actions brought for misrepresentations in the nature of breaches of warranty, damages are measured by difference between value of goods as warranted and value as received. Chrysler Corp. v. McMorries, Tex.App. 7 Dist, 657 S.W.2d 858, 864@ loss of consortiumSee consortium.@ loss of earning capacityDamage to one's ability to earn wages in the future and recoverable as element of damage in tort actions. It is not the same as loss of earnings though loss of actual earnings is competent evidence of loss of earning capacity. A person unemployed at the time of the accident has an earning capacity though he has no earnings@ loss payable clauseA clause in a fire insurance policy, listing the priority of claims in the event of destruction of the property insured. Generally, a mortgagee, or beneficiary under a deed of trust, is the party appearing in the clause, being paid to the amount owing under the mortgage or deed of trust before the owner is paid. A provision in property insurance contracts that authorizes payments to persons other than the insured to the extent that they have an insurable interest in the property@ loss payeePerson named in insurance policy to be paid in event of loss or damage to property insured@ loss ratioIn insurance, the proportion between premiums collected and loss payments made. In finance, loan losses of a bank or the receivable losses of a business compared to the assets of that class@ loss reserveThat portion of insurance company's assets set aside for payment of losses which will probably arise or which have arisen but have not been paid@
Black's law dictionary. HENRY CAMPBELL BLACK, M. A.. 1990.