Opinion ID: 1373031
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Prejudgment Interest on Money Advanced to Repair Plane

Text: Sheehan made three cash advances which Viking Air, Ltd., required for repair of his plane. The funds for these advances were withdrawn from time certificates of deposit. Sheehan argues that the sums advanced should be considered costs associated with mitigating his damages and thus subject to prejudgment interest. PWC responds that prejudgment interest on the advanced funds would allow Sheehan a double recovery of prejudgment interest: interest on the amount of stipulated damages, plus interest on the payments which comprised those damages. The superior court agreed with PWC on this issue, reasoning that: Although Sheehan expended the funds in order to mitigate his losses, he is compensated for the interest which he lost from certificates of deposit by prejudgment interest. To illustrate the point, consider if Sheehan had repaired the plane on the day following the accident. On that circumstance, he would still have been entitled to prejudgment interest on the full amount of the damages which he paid. However, it would be for loss of use of the money. Similarly here, where Sheehan expended some money for some of the repairs, he is entitled to be compensated only once for loss of use of the money. Since prejudgment interest on Sheehan's other damages runs from the date his cause of action accrued, we hold that he has been compensated for the full value of the repairs from the date of the loss. Thus, we affirm the superior court's decision.