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Personal Injury Interest Awards

Personal Injury Interest Awards

Brien Roche

In a personal injury action, pre-judgment interest may be awarded. However it is up to the judge or the jury to make that decision. 

Sometimes defense lawyers will argue that pre-judgment interest is not allowed. They may cite the case of Sumner Partners, LLC v. Venture Investments, LLC, 2022 W.L. 624845. In that unreported case, the court cited Va. Code § 8.01-382. Sumner was a contract case. Also the court noted that in general when you’re dealing with unliquidated claims, pre-judgment interest is disfavored. 

However, Va. Code § 8.01-382 does say that in actions at law, the court may award interest on any principal sum awarded and fix the period at which the interest shall commence. 

Personal Injury Interest Awards – Discretionary

As such an award of pre-judgment interest is discretionary. If there is a jury that is being asked to decide the issue, it is the jury that decides that question of pre-judgment interest. Plus they decide the date from which it begins to run. 

Post-judgment interest is set by Va. Code § 6.2-302.

Pre-judgment interest can be a powerful weapon. If your verdict is a large one, then pre-judgment interest of 6% for two years is a big number.

The argument to the jury as to why pre-judgment interest should be awarded is:

As the Judge will instruct you, you are empowered to award pre-judgment interest on your award of damages to the victim.

Specifically, Virginia law entitles you to award pre-judgment interest at 6% per year from the date of incident to the present.

Time Value

There is a very good reason for that: it’s called “the time value of money” – or simply, “inflation”.

It means a dollar today is not worth what it was last year, and certainly not what it was worth the year before that, and so on – for 7 years in this case.

So when a person takes on a debt, if he does not pay for the debt in full when he incurs it, then he pays interest on that debt until he pays off the debt. Period.

If you don’t pay for a house up-front, you pay interest on a mortgage – usually for decades.

If you don’t pay for college up-front, you pay interest on a student loan – usually for 10 years.

When you don’t pay for your car up-front, you pay interest on car financing – usually 3-6 years.

If you don’t pay for your daily obligations up-front, you pay interest on credit cards – for however long it takes you to pay them off – and at very high double-digit interest rates!

Only 6% interest is a relative bargain.

Again, bottom line: when people incur a debt, they pay interest on what they owe, until they finally pay what they owe.

That’s how society works.

It’s only Fair

It’s only fair.

That’s why it’s the law!

So like the rest of society, the Defendant needs pay interest on his/her debt to the victim – from the time of the incident/loss to right now.

So after you the Jury decide what is the right amount of compensation for the victim’s damages – the Defendant’s debt – then you award pre-judgment at 6% for 7 years from incident to now.

That’s how society works.

It’s only fair.

That’s why it’s the law.

Personal Injury Interest Awards-Prayer for Damages

There can arise the question of whether or not you need to expressly ask for pre-judgment interest. Probably if there is simply a request for interest in the Complaint, you’re covered. It’s more prudent however to expressly ask for both pre-judgment and post-judgment interest. That way you’re clearly covered. 

The family auto policy in Virginia defines damages as including pre-judgment interest. If however, the pre-judgment interest puts the amount to be paid over the limits, then that amount over the limits need not be paid. Dairyland Insurance Co. v. Douthat, 248 Va. 627, 449 S.E.2d 799. That applies for both liability and UM coverage.

Get an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney in the DMV Area

Call, or contact us for a free consult. Also for more info on personal injury damages see the Wikipedia pages. Also, see the post on this site dealing with damages issues.

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Contact Us For A Free Consultation

Personal Injury Interest Awards

Personal Injury Interest Awards

Brien Roche

In a personal injury action, pre-judgment interest may be awarded. However it is up to the judge or the jury to make that decision. 

Sometimes defense lawyers will argue that pre-judgment interest is not allowed. They may cite the case of Sumner Partners, LLC v. Venture Investments, LLC, 2022 W.L. 624845. In that unreported case, the court cited Va. Code § 8.01-382. Sumner was a contract case. Also the court noted that in general when you’re dealing with unliquidated claims, pre-judgment interest is disfavored. 

However, Va. Code § 8.01-382 does say that in actions at law, the court may award interest on any principal sum awarded and fix the period at which the interest shall commence. 

Personal Injury Interest Awards – Discretionary

As such an award of pre-judgment interest is discretionary. If there is a jury that is being asked to decide the issue, it is the jury that decides that question of pre-judgment interest. Plus they decide the date from which it begins to run. 

Post-judgment interest is set by Va. Code § 6.2-302.

Pre-judgment interest can be a powerful weapon. If your verdict is a large one, then pre-judgment interest of 6% for two years is a big number.

The argument to the jury as to why pre-judgment interest should be awarded is:

As the Judge will instruct you, you are empowered to award pre-judgment interest on your award of damages to the victim.

Specifically, Virginia law entitles you to award pre-judgment interest at 6% per year from the date of incident to the present.

Time Value

There is a very good reason for that: it’s called “the time value of money” – or simply, “inflation”.

It means a dollar today is not worth what it was last year, and certainly not what it was worth the year before that, and so on – for 7 years in this case.

So when a person takes on a debt, if he does not pay for the debt in full when he incurs it, then he pays interest on that debt until he pays off the debt. Period.

If you don’t pay for a house up-front, you pay interest on a mortgage – usually for decades.

If you don’t pay for college up-front, you pay interest on a student loan – usually for 10 years.

When you don’t pay for your car up-front, you pay interest on car financing – usually 3-6 years.

If you don’t pay for your daily obligations up-front, you pay interest on credit cards – for however long it takes you to pay them off – and at very high double-digit interest rates!

Only 6% interest is a relative bargain.

Again, bottom line: when people incur a debt, they pay interest on what they owe, until they finally pay what they owe.

That’s how society works.

It’s only Fair

It’s only fair.

That’s why it’s the law!

So like the rest of society, the Defendant needs pay interest on his/her debt to the victim – from the time of the incident/loss to right now.

So after you the Jury decide what is the right amount of compensation for the victim’s damages – the Defendant’s debt – then you award pre-judgment at 6% for 7 years from incident to now.

That’s how society works.

It’s only fair.

That’s why it’s the law.

Personal Injury Interest Awards-Prayer for Damages

There can arise the question of whether or not you need to expressly ask for pre-judgment interest. Probably if there is simply a request for interest in the Complaint, you’re covered. It’s more prudent however to expressly ask for both pre-judgment and post-judgment interest. That way you’re clearly covered. 

The family auto policy in Virginia defines damages as including pre-judgment interest. If however, the pre-judgment interest puts the amount to be paid over the limits, then that amount over the limits need not be paid. Dairyland Insurance Co. v. Douthat, 248 Va. 627, 449 S.E.2d 799. That applies for both liability and UM coverage.

Get an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney in the DMV Area

Call, or contact us for a free consult. Also for more info on personal injury damages see the Wikipedia pages. Also, see the post on this site dealing with damages issues.

Contact Us For A Free Consultation

    Contact Us For A Free Consultation

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