Ludwig v. Detroit Fire & Marine Insurance
Ludwig v. Detroit Fire & Marine Insurance
Opinion of the Court
Wisconsin Screw Company commenced this action in the Circuit Court of Racine County, Wisconsin, against Detroit Fire and Marine Insurance Company, and Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance Company, the defendants-appellees.
The complaint seeks recovery of $15,000 from each of the defendants as the insurer for that amount of a warehouse property of the Wisconsin Screw Company which was totally destroyed by fire. Interest is sought from September 25, 1957, the sixtieth day following submission of proof of loss.
Each of the defendant insurance companies had issued a separate policy in the amount of $15,000 covering the property involved.
The action was tried before the court which found the actual cash value of the building at the time of its destruction by fire was $12,264.80, and the damages sustained as a result of the fire were un-liquidated and could not have been ascertained with reasonable certainty. The court concluded the Wisconsin “valued policy” statute (Section 203.21, Wis. Stats., 1955) is not applicable. It further concluded the plaintiff is not entitled to pre judgment interest. Accordingly, the court entered judgment for the plaintiff trustee in the amount of $6,132.40 against each of the defendant insurance companies, a total of $12,264.80, rather than the $30,000 plus interest claimed by the plaintiff. The plaintiff appealed.
Plaintiff contends the District Court erred in holding § 203.21 of the Wisconsin statutes inapplicable and in limiting plaintiff’s recovery against each of the two insurers to its proportionate share of plaintiff’s actual loss pursuant to
On the issue of the denial of pre-judgment interest we perceive no basis, from our examination of the record, for concluding that the District Court’s finding the loss or damage sustained was unliquidated is clearly erroneous. If the Wisconsin law entitled plaintiff to recover the face amount of the policies, as urged by plaintiff, the loss or damage would be properly characterized as liquidated. But we have concluded § 203.11 limited plaintiff’s recovery to its “actual loss” rather than the specific amounts for which the building had been insured. And, there is nothing in the record which establishes that the actual value of the plaintiff’s warehouse at the time of its destruction by fire was readily ascertainable with reasonable certainty.
We are of the opinion that under the applicable Wisconsin law the District Court did not err in denying the plaintiff pre-judgment interest.
The judgment order of the District Court is affirmed.
Affirmed.
. Chris. Schroeder & Sons, -Inc., designated in the title of this appeal as a defendant-appellee, was dismissed from the case pursuant to stipulation.
. In Wisconsin Screw Co. v. Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co., 7 Cir., 297 F.2d 697, it was recognized (p. 701) that:
“There are situations where Wisconsin law permits recovery of .pre-judgment interest on unliquidated damages or claims. Laycock v. Parker, 103 Wis. 161, 79 N.W. 327; J. I. Case Plow Works v. Niles & Scott Co., 107 Wis. 9, 82 N.W. 568; Necedah Mfg. Corp. v. Juneau County, 206 Wis. 316, 237 N.W. 277, 240 N.W. 405, 96 A.L.R. 4. But the cited cases restrict such allowance to instances where the pecuniary amounts due are ‘liquidable or measurable in money with reasonable certainty’; where there is a ‘reasonably certain standard of measurement by the correct application of which one can ascertain the amount he owes’; and where the damages although wholly un-liquidated ‘may be fixed by known and reasonably certain market values or other definite standards’.”
Reference
- Full Case Name
- R. Arthur LUDWIG, Trustee in Bankruptcy of Wisconsin Screw Company v. DETROIT FIRE AND MARINE INSURANCE COMPANY of Detroit, Michigan, and Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance Company, and Chris. Schroeder & Sons, Inc.
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published