WENDY M.L. COOPER, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM T. COOPER, DECEASED, APPELLANT,
v.
ANGIE ALFORD, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1985-10-17
No. BA-169
MILLS and SMITH, JJ., concur.
477 So. 2d 31 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1985) Negative Treatment
Cited by 9 cases

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Holding

Interest on a liquidated debt in a contract action commences from the date the debt was due, not from the date of the final court determination.

Facts & Procedural History

Appellant sued for breach of contract, and the trial court eventually entered an amended final judgment in their favor. The dispute on appeal concerne…

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Topics
Action Ex Contractu Pecuniary Damages Contract Action

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Opinion of the Court
THOMPSON, Judge.

THOMPSON, Judge.

This is an appeal from an amended final judgment entered in appellant’s favor ordering the disbursement of funds. Appellant contends that the trial court erred in finding that interest commenced to run on the money judgment from the date this court finally determined which party was entitled to recover the liquidated sum. We agree.

The original dispute was a contract action. In an action ex contractu, interest runs from the date a liquidated debt is due. This is so even if there exists an honest dispute as to whether the debt was in fact due. Once it is finally determined the debt was due, the person to whom it was owed is entitled to payment of the principal plus interest from the due date. Parker v. Brinson Construction Co., 78 So. 2d 873 (Fla.1955).

When a claim is liquidated, as in the instant case, interest is merely another element of pecuniary damages. The purpose in awarding such interest is to compensate a party for deprivation of property. Once damages and liability are established, a party is to be made whole. Argonaut Insurance Co. v. May Plumbing Co., et al., 474 So. 2d 212 (Fla.1985).

The appellant, however, claims interest only from the date of the original judgment in the lower court. The amended judgment appealed is therefore modified to provide that the appellant is entitled to interest from the date of the original lower court judgment and, as modified, the judgment is affirmed.

MILLS and SMITH, JJ., concur.

Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus

Citator

Cited By

  • Parsons v. Harbor Specialty Ins. Co., 839 So. 2d 742 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)
    …f the principal of the debt but also to interest at the lawful rate.” Chelsea Title & Guar. Co. v. Turner, 389 So. 2d 691, 692 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980). See also Gallo v. Dep’t of Banking & Fin., 749 So. 2d 582 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000); M.L. Cooper v. Alford, 477 So. 2d 31 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985). We have no quarrel with the principle, but finds its application lost in the context of section 627.7283. The plaintiff entered into a contract with the defendant for a policy of insurance. The defendant cancelled the policy an…
  • Riera v. Finlay Med. Ctrs. Hmo Corp., 543 So. 2d 372 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)
    …. Brinson Constr. Co., 78 So. 2d 873, 874 (Fla.1955) (“[I]f it is finally determined that the debt was due, the person to whom it was due is entitled ... to interest at the lawful rate from the due date thereof.”) (emphasis added); Cooper v. Alford, 477 So. 2d 31 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985) (same); Ray v. Travelers Ins. Co., 477 So. 2d 634, 636 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985) (same). Second, the trial court properly declared that Finlay was entitled to a reimbursement on all medical bills paid from the plaintiff’s above-state…
  • Genvest Gen. Invs. v. Lake Nona Corp., 594 So. 2d 787 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992)
    …ligated to pay interest on the first and second installments if paid after the respective due dates. Florida courts have long held that in actions ex contractu interest is properly awardable from the date a debt becomes due. E.g., Cooper v. Alford, 477 So. 2d 31 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985); Creative Property Management, Inc. v. Gaines, 416 So. 2d 1266 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982); Tech Corp. v. Permutit Co., 321 So. 2d 562 (Fla. 4th DCA [*789] 1975); Florida Home Ins. Co. v. Braverman, 163 So. 2d 512 (Fla. 3d DCA 1964); Eva…

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