What Does Article 6:100 of the Dutch Civil Code Say?
Article 6:100 of the Dutch Civil Code provides that where the same event that caused the damage has also produced a benefit for the injured party, that benefit is taken into account in determining the compensation, to the extent this is reasonable. The injured party should be compensated for the loss, not put in a better position than without the event.
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What Is the Text of Article 6:100?
English translation (unofficial, by the Dutch Law Institute):
Where the same event has produced not only damage but also a benefit for the injured party, that benefit must, to the extent this is reasonable, be taken into account in determining the damage to be compensated.
Dutch text (Burgerlijk Wetboek Book 6, article 100):
Heeft een zelfde gebeurtenis voor de benadeelde naast schade tevens voordeel opgeleverd, dan moet, voor zover dit redelijk is, dit voordeel bij de vaststelling van de te vergoeden schade in rekening worden gebracht.
Dutch text as in force from 16 July 2026, taken from wetten.overheid.nl, the official source of Dutch legislation. The English translation is not official; in case of doubt the Dutch text prevails.
What Does Article 6:100 of the Dutch Civil Code Mean?
An event that causes loss can at the same time produce an advantage. Article 6:100 provides that such an advantage is set off against the damage, but only to the extent that this is reasonable. The rule is known in Dutch as voordeelstoerekening: attribution of benefit.
The underlying idea is that damages compensate the injured party's actual loss. If the event also left the injured party better off in some respect, ignoring that would over-compensate. At the same time, the reasonableness test prevents the liable party from profiting from every advantage the injured party happens to receive.
When Is a Benefit Deducted from the Damages?
The text contains two conditions.
- The same event. The benefit must result from the same event that caused the damage. An advantage that the injured party would have received anyway, or that arises from a separate cause, falls outside the article.
- Reasonableness. The benefit is only deducted to the extent that this is reasonable. That is a normative judgment, made on all the circumstances of the case. It allows the court to deduct a benefit fully, partly or not at all.
The party relying on a benefit to reduce the compensation will normally have to state and substantiate it. In practice the reasonableness test is where most disputes under Article 6:100 are decided: whether it is fair that a particular advantage should reduce what the liable party pays.
How Does Article 6:100 Work in Practice?
An illustration, to show the structure rather than to state how a court would decide a particular case: a supplier fails to deliver, the buyer has to buy replacement goods elsewhere at a higher price, but because of the breach the buyer also saves transport costs it would otherwise have paid. The saved costs result from the same event, and it may well be reasonable to deduct them from the extra purchase price. Whether it is reasonable in a real case depends on the circumstances.
The article therefore calls for a two-step check in every damages calculation: first identify the losses caused by the event, then ask whether the same event produced any advantage that should, reasonably, reduce the amount.
How Does Article 6:100 Relate to the Other Damages Articles?
Article 6:100 operates after the losses have been identified under Article 6:96 of the Dutch Civil Code and attributed under Article 6:98 of the Dutch Civil Code. It sits alongside Article 6:101 of the Dutch Civil Code, which reduces the claim where the injured party contributed to the damage. Both feed into the final assessment by the court under Article 6:97 of the Dutch Civil Code.
Related Provisions and Guides
Related articles in this library:
- Article 6:96 of the Dutch Civil Code: Pecuniary loss and recoverable costs
- Article 6:97 of the Dutch Civil Code: Assessment and estimation of damages
- Article 6:98 of the Dutch Civil Code: Causation and the scope of liability
- Article 6:101 of the Dutch Civil Code: Contributory fault and apportionment
Further reading on dutch-law.com:
All articles: the Dutch Civil Code in English.