When valuing unliquidated damages, what does remoteness refer to?

Remoteness in the context of unliquidated damages refers to the principle that focuses on the types of losses that can be validly claimed. When damages are awarded for a breach of contract or a tortious act, they must be losses that were either foreseeable to both parties or natural consequences of the breach. This principle is notably derived from the case of Hadley v. Baxendale, where the court established that damages should only be those losses that are reasonably within the contemplation of both parties at the time the contract was made.

This means that if a loss is considered "remote," it is typically one that is too indirect or not directly related to the breach, and thus cannot be compensated. Therefore, to be recoverable, the losses must either arise naturally from the breach or have been contemplated by the parties as a probable result of the breach. This ensures that damages are fair and within a scope that the breaching party could reasonably have foreseen when entering into the agreement, promoting fairness and predictability in contractual relations.