Prejudgment Interest on Costs Denied

Bean v. Pac. Elevator Corp., No. D064587 (D4d1 Mar. 10, 2015)

Under Civil Code § 3291, if a personal injury plaintiff makes and then beats an offer of judgment under Code of Civil Procedure § 998, plaintiff gets ten percent prejudgment interest on the ultimate award from the date of the offer until judgment is entered. The court here holds that, although the statute is no model of clarity, the plaintiff is entitled to prejudgment interest only on the part of the judgment that is attributable to personal injury damages. That doesn’t include costs that are ultimately added to the judgment. So prejudgment interest under § 3291 can’t include interest on costs.

Reversed in relevant part.