Restitutio in Integrum

Restitutio in integrum is the governing principle for measuring damages: the wronged party is restored, so far as money can, to the position it would have held had the breach or wrong not occurred. In contract this is the expectation measure, protecting the bargained-for outcome; in marine insurance it underlies indemnity, so the assured recovers the insured value of the loss, no more. The principle bounds recovery from below and above: it bars under-compensation but also bars windfall, which is why the claimant must give credit for benefits received and must mitigate avoidable loss. In tort it aims to undo the harm; in total-loss insurance it fixes recovery at the agreed or insurable value.