What does "damages" in insurance terminology signify?

In insurance terminology, "damages" specifically refers to the actual loss that has occurred as a result of an event covered by a policy. This could include physical damage to property, personal injury losses, or other quantifiable impacts that can be financially assessed and compensated. The focus is on the tangible, present losses that an insured party can claim under their policy.

Potential future losses and future medical expenses are considerations that may arise in the context of claims, but they do not represent the concept of damages themselves, which must be linked to losses that have already taken place. Claims made by an insured are the requests for compensation based on damages, however, they are not the damages in themselves but rather the process of seeking recovery for the losses experienced. Thus, the precise understanding of damages is crucial in the context of evaluating insurance responses to specific incidents.