Mental distress or physical inconvenience (except consequent on personal injury or death)

Abstract

Mental distress covers, for example, disappointment, worry, anxiety, fear, upset, and annoyance. On the traditional approach taken by the courts, mental distress, along with ‘pain and suffering’ consequent on a personal injury and ‘bereavement’, compensated under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976, are the heads of non-pecuniary loss covering the claimant’s loss of happiness and distress in contrast to the other ‘objective’ non-pecuniary losses (such as ‘loss of amenity’ consequent on a personal injury and ‘loss of reputation’). On an alternative view, all non-pecuniary loss is regarded as ultimately dealing with distress or loss of happiness and ‘mental distress’ is seen as a residual head for distress not falling within any of the other heads.