This paper deals with the study of buckling, vibration, and parametric instability characteristics in a damaged cross-ply and angle-ply laminated plate like beam under in-plane harmonic loading, using the finite element approach. Damage is modelled using an anisotropic damage formulation, based on the concept of reduction in stiffness. The effect of damage on free vibration and buckling characteristics of a thin plate like beam has been studied. It has been observed that damage shows a strong orthogonality and in general deteriorates the static and dynamic characteristics. For the harmonic type of loading, analysis was carried out on a thin plate like beam by solving the governing differential equation which is of Mathieu-Hill type, using the method of multiple scales (MMS). The effects of damage and its location on dynamic stability characteristics have been presented. The results indicate that, compared to the undamaged plate like beam, heavily damaged beams show steeper deviations in simple and combination resonance characteristics.