§ 2-14. What does compensation cover — and what does it not cover?
Compensation (erstatning) is meant to cover the financial loss you have actually suffered. But some types of loss — especially lost income and lost production — are "indirect loss" (indirekte tap), which is normally not covered unless the landlord (utleier) was negligent.
Machine-translated from Norwegian. The Norwegian text is the one that applies. Read the original in Norwegian.Norsk English العربية Polski Українська
The text of the law (unofficial translation)
The compensation shall correspond to the financial loss the tenant (leier) has suffered as a result of the delay or the defect (mangel). However, this applies only to loss that the landlord could reasonably have foreseen as a possible consequence of the breach (mislighold).
The following is regarded as indirect loss: a. loss resulting from reduced or lost production or turnover (business interruption), b. lost profit resulting from a contract with a third party falling away, insofar as the tenant without reasonable cause fails to rent other rented premises (husrom) or take other measures to avoid or reduce the loss, and c. loss resulting from damage to property.
The rules in the second paragraph do not apply to costs of ordinary measures that compensate for the rented premises being taken over late or having defects, or to measures that limit loss other than that covered by the second paragraph.
If the tenant fails to limit the loss through reasonable measures, the tenant must bear the corresponding part of the loss.
The liability may be reduced if it would be unreasonable for the landlord in view of the size of the loss compared with the loss that usually arises in similar cases, and in view of the circumstances otherwise.
It may be agreed that no compensation shall be paid for indirect loss falling under the second paragraph.
What does this mean?
Compensation for loss caused by delay and defects is not unlimited. There are two important limits:
One: The loss must be foreseeable. The landlord only pays for loss he could reasonably have foreseen that his breach would cause. Extraordinary losses the landlord had no basis for foreseeing fall outside.
Two: Indirect loss is normally not covered. Indirect loss means more remote consequences — lost income because you could not open your shop, contracts that fell through, damage to your own belongings. These are only covered if the landlord was negligent.
For ordinary tenants of a home (bolig), this is rarely a big problem — most claims concern direct costs such as a hotel and storage, which are direct loss. But if you rent commercial premises (lokale) for a business, the line between direct and indirect loss can become important.
You have a duty to limit your loss. If you can rent other rented premises to avoid the loss, you are obliged to do so. If you sit back and let the loss grow, you bear the part you could have avoided yourself.
Example
Lars rents commercial premises for a hair salon. Because the landlord delayed the handover (overlevering) by three weeks, Lars could not open as planned and lost income of NOK 90,000. This is an indirect loss (business interruption). Lars normally cannot claim this covered — unless the landlord was negligent. However, Lars can claim specific extra expenses covered, such as marketing he had already paid for and had to postpone.
Common mistakes
- Believing you can claim every conceivable loss. No — the loss must be foreseeable and direct.
- Letting the loss grow without doing anything. You have a duty to limit the damage. If you do not, you lose your right to compensation for the part you could have avoided.
What should you do?
Keep your extra expenses as low as possible and document everything. Claim compensation for what you actually lost, and be realistic about what counts as direct loss. If you are unsure, get guidance from the Rent Disputes Tribunal (Husleietvistutvalget).