Also known as: property damages · damage to property
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Physical harm to or destruction of tangible property.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Phoebe Park received a court award after a fire damaged her separately owned cabin during the marriage. The court classified the full recovery as marital property under the uniform act because the statute treats recoveries for damage to property as shared assets absent a contrary agreement. Paige Porter, her spouse, therefore received an equal share upon dissolution.
Pulse Media contracted with Precision Tools to install new manufacturing equipment. The equipment failed and caused extensive damage to Pulse Media's factory floor and inventory. Pulse Media sued in tort for the property damage. The court permitted the claim because the economic loss rule no longer bars such actions outside products liability cases.
Penelope Price bought a new car from Pinnacle Holdings. A manufacturing defect caused the steering to fail and the vehicle crashed into a wall. Price sued the dealer and manufacturer for the resulting property damage to the car itself. The court allowed recovery because the warranty extended to the actual physical harm sustained by the vehicle.
Phuong Pham, an insanity acquittee, sought release from state custody. The state opposed release by citing evidence that Pham posed a risk of causing serious property damage if freed. The court evaluated the property damage risk under the same reasonable-suspicion standard applied to personal injury risks.
Peter Park owned beachfront lots that a new coastal regulation rendered unusable. A subsequent hurricane caused millions in property damage to structures on the lots. Park argued the regulation effected a taking because it prevented him from protecting the property from further storm damage.
Pierre Poulin operated a long-haul trucking business with his spouse. An accident caused property damage to another vehicle and its cargo. The motor carrier liability policy listed on the certificate covered the resulting property damage claims because the policy expressly included such obligations.
Property damage involves physical harm to tangible items and supports tort recovery even when a contract exists. Pure economic loss without accompanying physical damage is barred by the economic loss rule in products liability cases but not in other contractual settings.
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A recovery for damage to property is classified as marital property under the uniform act unless a decree, marital property agreement, or written consent provides otherwise.
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No. Destruction of property alone does not require a higher showing than reasonable suspicion that compliance would be dangerous, futile, or inhibit the investigation.
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…of the State's police power, as demonstrated by Hurricane Hugo, which in 1989, caused 29 deaths and more than $6 billion in property damage in South Carolina alone. In view of all of these factors, even assuming that petitioner's property was rendered valueless, the risk inherent in investments of the sort made by petitioner,…