Recovery for pure economic loss in English law, arising from negligence, has traditionally been limited.
Notably, recovery for losses that are "purely economic" arise under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976; and for negligent misstatements, as stated in Hedley Byrne v. Heller.
Economic loss generally refers to financial detriment that can be seen on a balance sheet but not physically.
[3] Examples of pure economic loss include: The latter case is exemplified by the case of Spartan Steel and Alloys Ltd v. Martin & Co. Ltd.[8] Similar losses are also restricted in German law[9] though not in French law.
[10] The complex structure theory is an argument which has been put forward in pure economic loss cases which suggests that a large chattel may be considered to consist of several parts and so damage to other "property" for the purpose of applying Donoghue v Stevenson principles.