Court Opinion

ID: 9638494
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 15:44:57.826087+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:06.733566
License: Public Domain

ROBERTSON, Judge,
concurring.
I concur in the principal opinion but write separately to express the reasoning I feel more precisely justifies the principal opinion’s holding on the issue of prejudgment interest.
As noted in the principal opinion, the general rule that interest is not recoverable on an unliquidated demand is subject to several interpretations and exceptions. Among these include situations in which a liquidated claim is countered with an unliq-uidated counterclaim, set-off or plea in re-coupment, Burger v. Wood, 446 S.W.2d 436 (Mo.App.1969); where the only contested issue is liability and the defendant does not dispute the dollar amount of damages, Hawkinson Tread Tire Service Co. v. Indiana Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Co., 362 Mo. 823, 245 S.W.2d 24 (1951); where interest is held to be part of a taking for which compensation should be provided in condemnation cases, St. Louis Housing Authority v. Magafas, 324 S.W.2d 697 (Mo.1959); and where, although the claim is in a sense unliquidated, the amount of damages is readily ascertainable by mathematical computation, Ehrle v. Bank Building & Equipment Corp. of America, 530 S.W.2d 482 (Mo.App.1975), or can be determined according to a recognized standard, Laughlin v. Boatmen’s Nat’l Bank, 354 Mo. 467, 189 S.W.2d 974 (1945).
This case presents a situation falling most nearly into the last category of exceptions to the general rule. The problem is that while a standard exists by which to measure the damages recoverable for the Catron’s property loss, the monetary value of the physical items damaged by the windstorm is disputed; the determination of loss is dependent on opinion estimates.
In Fohn v. Title Insurance Corp., 529 S.W.2d 1 (Mo. banc 1975), this Court disallowed prejudgment interest on a claim where the standard, i.e., the legal measure of damages, was an open question and point of contention between the parties. The policy behind denial of prejudgment interest was stated to be “based, generally, on the idea that where the person liable does not know the amount he owes he should not be considered in default because of failure to pay.” 529 S.W.2d at 5. Other decisions denying prejudgment interest are based on the same principle. See Komosa v. Monsanto Chemical Co., 317 S.W.2d 396 (Mo. banc 1958) (nature and extent of workman’s disability found not computable by any known standards); Ohlendorf v. Feinstein, 670 S.W.2d 930 (Mo.App.1984) (claim for lost profits as of date of breach of contract found unliquidated for absence of recognized standard by which to ascertain extent of loss).
On the other hand, at least two policies are served by allowing prejudgment interest: “(1) it helps compensate plaintiffs for the true cost of money damages they have incurred; and (2) where liability and the amount of damages are fairly certain, it promotes settlement and deters an attempt to benefit unfairly from the inherent delay of litigation.” Twin River Construction Co. v. Public Water Dist. No. 6, 653 S.W.2d 682, 695 (Mo.App.1983), quoting General Facilities, Inc. v. National Marine Service, Inc., 664 F.2d 672 (8th Cir.1981). Consistent with Fohn, a defendant does not “benefit unfairly” from delay of litigation when he truly cannot be expected to know how much he owes and thus cannot be considered in default. Where the amount of damages is capable of determination according to a recognized standard — in this case established by the insurance policy itself — a dispute as to monetary value is not the type of uncertainty justifying denial of complete compensation to a plaintiff. To hold otherwise would allow an insurer to accrue percuniary benefit unfairly by the simple expedient of producing conflicting estimates of value.