Special damages are awarded for which of the following?

Special damages are specifically designed to compensate for quantifiable financial losses that a claimant has incurred as a result of an injury or incident. This includes costs that can be calculated with precise monetary values, such as medical expenses, lost wages, and other out-of-pocket expenses directly linked to the incident.

In the context of the options provided, financial losses like medical costs clearly fall under the category of special damages. They are tangible, can be documented, and are directly associated with the harm experienced by the victim. This type of compensation aims to restore the claimant to the financial position they were in prior to the incident, reflecting the goal of special damages to cover exact financial impacts.

The other options listed do not fit the definition of special damages. Punitive measures serve to punish the defendant and deter future wrongdoing rather than compensate the claimant. Non-economic losses, such as emotional distress, fall under general damages, which account for subjective and non-tangible factors that cannot be easily quantified. Loss of companionship and support addresses emotional and relational impacts rather than direct financial loss, thus also categorizing it as general damages rather than special.