S & M, LLC v. Burchel

120 So. 3d 505, 2012 WL 2053834, 2012 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 150
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedJune 8, 2012
Docket2110242
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 120 So. 3d 505 (S & M, LLC v. Burchel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
S & M, LLC v. Burchel, 120 So. 3d 505, 2012 WL 2053834, 2012 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 150 (Ala. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

BRYAN, Judge.

S & M, LLC, d/b/a Huntsville Cab Company (“Huntsville Cab”), appeals from a judgment in favor of Kevin Burchel, the personal representative of the estate of Roy William Burchel (“the personal representative”). We affirm.

On April 21, 2008, a taxicab owned by Huntsville Cab was damaged in a collision with an automobile driven by Roy William Burchel (“Roy”) in Decatur. The cost to repair the taxicab would have exceeded its fair market value; therefore, Huntsville Cab replaced the damaged taxicab instead of repairing it.

Huntsville Cab sued Roy in the Morgan District Court, seeking to recover damages not only for the damage to its taxicab but also for loss of its use. While the action was pending in the district court, Roy paid Huntsville Cab the fair market value of the taxicab, which was $5,387.50, and the cost incurred by Huntsville Cab in modifying the replacement automobile to make it suitable for use as a taxicab,1 which totaled [506]*506$2,765.95. Roy died while the action was pending in the district court, and the personal representative was substituted for Roy. Following a trial, the district court entered a judgment in favor of the personal representative with respect to Huntsville Cab’s claim for damages for loss of use of the taxicab.

Huntsville Cab appealed to the Morgan Circuit Court for a trial de novo. Following a bench trial, the circuit court, on September 14, 2011, entered a judgment in favor of the personal representative with respect to Huntsville Cab’s claim for damages for loss of use of the taxicab. In pertinent part, the circuit court’s judgment states:

“A number of material facts in this case are undisputed. On April 1, 2008, [Huntsville Cab’s] taxi cab was struck in the side by a vehicle operated by the decedent, Roy Burchel. Burchel is liable for the damage caused to the cab. It was deemed to be a total loss and was not repaired by [Huntsville Cab]. [Roy] paid [Huntsville Cab] $8,153.45 for the loss of its vehicle plus the cost of outfitting it as a cab. The sole issue for the Court to decide is what loss-of-use damages, if any, [Huntsville Cab] is entitled to recover from the date of the wreck until it obtained a replacement vehicle and outfitted it for service as a cab.
“The Court’s decision on [Huntsville Cab’s] demand for loss-of-use damages is controlled by the following rule of law: a party cannot recover damages for both the total loss of a vehicle and the loss of use of that same vehicle. Fuller v. Martin, [41 Ala.App. 160, 164] 125 So.2d 4, 7 (1960); Lary v. Valiant Insurance Co., 864 So.2d 1105, 1110 (Ala.Civ.App.2002). Because [Roy] has paid [Huntsville Cab] the value of the totaled cab which it did not repair, [Huntsville Cab] as a matter of law is not entitled to recover loss-of-use damages.
“Accordingly, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED by the Court that a judgment be, and hereby is, rendered in favor of the [personal representative] and against [Huntsville Cab] on the remaining claim for damages in this case. The [personal representative] is discharged from any further obligation or liability to [Huntsville Cab].”

Huntsville Cab timely appealed to the supreme court, which transferred the appeal to this court pursuant to § 12-2-7(6), Ala.Code 1975.

Huntsville Cab argues that the circuit court erred in determining that it was not entitled to recover damages for loss of use of the taxicab because it had been compensated for the total loss of the taxicab. Because the material facts are undisputed, the issue before us involves only the circuit court’s application of the law to undisputed facts. Therefore, our review is de novo. See State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Motley, 909 So.2d 806, 810 (Ala.2005) (“Because the issues before us involve only the application of law to undisputed facts, our review is de novo.”).

In Hunt v. Ward, 262 Ala. 379, 79 So.2d 20 (1955), the supreme court addressed the measure of damages for an automobile damaged in a collision. In pertinent part, the supreme court stated:

“The primary rule is generally stated to be that the damage is embraced in the formula that it is the difference in the value of the [automobile] before and after the accident, caused by the accident. If it is so damaged as not to be repairable and has no value after the [507]*507accident, it would be simply its value at the time of the accident (less its junk value, if any). On this amount interest should be allowed. If it is repairable and the owner sees fit to repair it and while doing so he is deprived of its use and incurs other expense in that connection, he may have the reasonable cost of the parts and labor in making the repairs together with the reasonable cost of transporting it and other incidental cost, if any, and the reasonable value of its use or hire during that time, on the theory that he could have hired one for use during that period: also interest on the total as indicated above.”

262 Ala. at 384-85, 79 So.2d at 25-26 (emphasis added).

Citing Hunt v. Ward, among other authorities, the court of appeals stated in Fuller v. Martin, 41 Ala.App. 160, 164, 125 So.2d 4, 7 (Ala.Ct.App.1960):

“The general rule is that if the automobile is injured so that it cannot be repaired the measure of damages is its value immediately before the accident, less its wreckage value, if any. Recovery cannot be had for both total loss of an automobile and loss of use of the same vehicle.”

(Emphasis added.) Likewise, in Lary v. Valiant Insurance Co., 864 So.2d 1105, 1110 (Ala.Civ.App.2002), this court stated: “Our supreme court has previously held that ‘[rjecovery cannot be had for both total loss of an automobile and loss of use of the same vehicle.’ Fuller v. Martin, 41 Ala.App. 160, 164, 125 So.2d 4, 7 (1960) (citing Hunt v. Ward, 262 Ala. 379, 79 So.2d 20 (1955)).”

Despite the rule established by the foregoing authorities that damages for loss of use may not be recovered if the damaged automobile is a total loss and the owner is compensated for its total loss, Huntsville Cab argues that Wilson & Co. v. Sims, 250 Ala. 414, 34 So.2d 689 (1948), indicates that in “certain circumstances” damages for loss of use of a damaged commercial vehicle may be recovered despite its being a total loss and the owner’s having been compensated for its total loss. In Wilson & Co. v. Sims, a commercial vehicle owned by Ramona Sims was damaged in a collision with an vehicle owned by Wilson & Co., Inc. (“Wilson”), which resulted in Sims’s vehicle being out of service while it was repaired. Sims sued Wilson, and, during trial, introduced a lease indicating that her vehicle was leased to Deaton Truck Lines when it was damaged and indicating the amount of rent she had lost as a result of her vehicle being out of service for repairs. Sims did not introduce any evidence tending to prove the market rental value of her vehicle while it was out of service for repairs. Moreover, the jury was not instructed regarding the applicable measure of damages. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Sims, and Wilson appealed. Reversing the judgment in favor of Sims, the supreme court stated, in pertinent part:

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Related

S & M, LLC v. Burchel
120 So. 3d 509 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2012)

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Bluebook (online)
120 So. 3d 505, 2012 WL 2053834, 2012 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 150, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/s-m-llc-v-burchel-alacivapp-2012.