Polytech, Inc. v. Sedgwick James of Missouri, Inc.

937 S.W.2d 309, 1996 Mo. App. LEXIS 1916, 1996 WL 678744
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 26, 1996
DocketNos. 70243, 70260
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 937 S.W.2d 309 (Polytech, Inc. v. Sedgwick James of Missouri, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Polytech, Inc. v. Sedgwick James of Missouri, Inc., 937 S.W.2d 309, 1996 Mo. App. LEXIS 1916, 1996 WL 678744 (Mo. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

HOFF, Judge.

Polytech, Inc. (Polyteeh) appeals the trial court’s judgment on October 18, 1995 granting partial summary judgment in favor of Sedgwick James of Missouri, Inc. (Sedgwick) with respect to one of Polytech’s claims. Sedgwick cross-appeals from the trial court’s award of prejudgment interest pursuant to § 408.040.2 RSMo 1994 on a jury verdict with respect to the remainder of Polyteeh’s claims. Sedgwick also cross-appeals from the trial court’s decision to tax it with the costs of two depositions. We affirm.

Sedgwick is a licensed insurance broker. In 1987, it agreed to act as an insurance broker for Polytech. Sedgwick obtained insurance coverage for Polytech’s plant, equipment, and business operations through Affiliated FM Insurance Company (Affiliated). Polytech’s business interruption policy covered its estimated lost income and fixed expenses for a twelve-month period following the occurrence of any covered peril that prevented it from conducting business.

In June 1988, while renewing its business interruption coverage, Polytech prepared a business interruption worksheet setting forth its internal estimate of income and expenses for the next twelve months. The worksheet was prepared by Polytech using its own balance sheets and financial information. Polytech calculated that it required business interruption coverage in the amount of $633,600, an increase of approximately twenty-seven percent over the previous year’s coverage of $501,630.

On July 21, 1988, Affiliated bound Poly-teeh’s business interruption coverage in the amount of $633,600, subject to the terms and conditions of its policy. Less than twenty-four hours later, a fire and explosion destroyed Polytech’s manufacturing facilities and, as a result, Polytech could no longer continue its manufacturing operations. The fire and explosion triggered Polyteeh’s rights to insurance under the terms of the policy.

After the fire, Polytech retained a public adjusting firm to prepare its claim for business interruption loss under the terms of the policy. New estimates of income and expense were prepared and were considerably higher than Polytech’s estimates the previous month. Polytech never resumed operations and, consequently, no additional information about its financial operations became available following the fire.

[311]*311On November 21,1988, Polyteeh presented a proof of loss on its business interruptions claim to Affiliated. In that proof of loss, Polyteeh claimed it had incurred business interruption losses in excess of the coverage it had bound the day before the fire.

Polyteeh filed three lawsuits following Affiliated’s denial of its business interruption claim. On March 12,1990, Polyteeh filed suit against Affiliated in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri seeking to recover its alleged business interruption loss under the terms of the policy (Polyteeh I). Sedgwick was never made a party in that case.

On April 12, 1998, Polyteeh filed a lawsuit against Sedgwick, alleging Sedgwick failed to obtain the proper type and amount of coverage for its real and personal property (Poly-tech II). Polyteeh did not raise a claim for its business interruption loss.

On October 26,1994, the jury in Polyteeh I returned a verdict in favor of Polyteeh finding that it had sustained business interruption losses in the amount of $1,200,000. Pri- or to judgment being rendered, Polyteeh and Affiliated settled and Polyteeh I was dismissed.

Shortly after the October 26, 1994 verdict, Polyteeh filed an amended petition in Poly-tech II to add a claim against Sedgwick for its failure to obtain adequate business interruption coverage. The trial court denied Po-lytech’s motion to amend the petition.

On December 16, 1994, while Polyteeh II was still pending, Polyteeh filed this lawsuit against Sedgwick (Polyteeh III). The original petition in this lawsuit asserted the claim for underinsured business interruption losses which Polyteeh had unsuccessfully attempted to add to Polyteeh II. Polyteeh then added its claim for underinsured property losses to Polyteeh III and, on April 11,1995, dismissed Polyteeh II.

On October 18, 1995, the trial court granted Sedgwick’s motion for summary judgment on Polytech’s claim for underinsured business interruption losses on the grounds that it was barred by the five year statute of limitation. § 516.120(1) RSMo 1994. The remaining issues were tried before a jury during the week of December 11, 1995. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Polyteeh in the amount of $675,500 and, on January 4, 1996, the trial court entered judgment on this amount. It also awarded prejudgment interest in the amount of $146,241.12 with interest thereon as provided by § 408.040.2. This amount was amended to $186,247.52 on March 15, 1996. Sedgwick was taxed with the cost of the proceeding, including the costs of two depositions.

Polyteeh contends the trial court erred in sustaining Sedgwick’s summary judgment motion to dismiss its claim for business interruption losses because the motion failed to establish Polytech’s claim was, as a matter of law, time barred. Section 516.100 RSMo 1994 provides, in relevant part:

[ T]he cause of action shall not be deemed to accrue when the wrong is done or the technical breach of contract or duty occurs, but when the damage resulting therefrom is sustained and is capable of ascertainment.

The five-year statute of limitations, § 516.120(1), bars the instant action.

Polyteeh contends that its damages were not “capable of ascertainment” until October 24, 1994, when the jury returned the verdict in Polyteeh I finding that Polyteeh had sustained damages for business interruptions in the amount of $1,200,000, $566,400 more than its coverage through Affiliated provided. Before the jury returned the verdict, Poly-tech argues, it did not have a justiciable controversy against Sedgwick. We disagree and find that the critical date is December 13, 1988, when Affiliated denied Polytech’s claim for any amount in excess of the amount of coverage provided by the policy.

Damages are “capable of ascertainment” within the meaning of § 516.100 when the aggrieved party first realizes that it will sustain damage. M & D Enterprises, Inc. v. Wolff, 923 S.W.2d 389, 394 (Mo.App.1996); Nuspl v. Missouri Medical Insurance Co., 842 S.W.2d 920, 922 (Mo.App.1992). The term is held to refer to the fact of damage, not the precise amount. Newton v. B.P.S. Guard Services, Inc., 833 S.W.2d 14, 16 (Mo.[312]*312App.1992). The statute of limitations is triggered where damage is capable of being ascertained, even when the full amount of the damage is not ascertainable. Id. The test is to “ascertain the time when plaintiff could have first maintained the action to a successful result.” Janssen v. Guaranty Land Title Co., 571 S.W.2d 702, 705 (Mo.App.1978).

Here, Polyteeh sustained its business interruption loss on July 22, 1988, when the fire and explosion terminated its manufacturing operations. Polyteeh knew the amount of its business interruption coverage on July 21, 1988, the day before the fire.

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937 S.W.2d 309, 1996 Mo. App. LEXIS 1916, 1996 WL 678744, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/polytech-inc-v-sedgwick-james-of-missouri-inc-moctapp-1996.