What Are Compensatory Damages?

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Compensatory damages is an amount of money intended to compensate the plaintiff in a civil lawsuit for what was lost as a result of a legal wrong committed by the defendant. The intention of compensatory damages is to reimburse a plaintiff for out-of-pocket expenses and to make them whole again. An example of compensatory damages may be the amount of money expended on medical bills or lost wages resulting from a car accident caused by a defendant.