Wabash Fire & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Holloway

Decision Date27 March 1962
Docket NumberNo. 61-475,61-475
Citation139 So.2d 145
PartiesWABASH FIRE AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, an Indiana corporation licensed to do business in the State of Florida, Appellant, v. W. V. HOLLOWAY, Allen Maida and Ecy Maida, Appellees.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

Fowler, White, Gillen, Humkey & Trenam and Phillip W. Knight, Miami, for appellant.

Stafford & Carter, Miami, and Charles H. Spooner, Coral Gables, for appellees.

Before PEARSON, TILLMAN, C. J., HENDRY, J., and GOLDMAN, PHILLIP, Associate Judge.

PER CURIAM.

The Wabash Fire and Casualty Insurance Company, one of the defendants in the trial court, appeals a final judgment for the plaintiff entered upon a jury verdict. The action was by W. V. Holloway, a building contractor, who alleged in his complaint that the defendant-insurance company entered into a contract of employment with him, and subsequent to the completion of the work involved in the contract refused to pay.

The basic question is whether the evidence is sufficient on the issue of employment to support the verdict. The judgment for the amount of the contract is approved upon authority of Board of Public Instruction for St. Lucie County v. Connor, 148 Fla. 364, 4 So.2d 382, wherein the Supreme Court of Florida recognized an implied contract arising from the acts, conduct and circumstances surrounding the dealings of the parties.

An additional question is presented as to the propriety of including in the judgment an amount specified as interest. The complaint claimed interest as an element of damages. The verdict was for an amount which apparently did not include interest. In the final judgment the trial judge added to the amount of the verdict a sum approximately equal to interest at the rate of six percent on the amount due. Interest was computed from the date upon which the complaint alleged it became due up to the date of the judgment.

Where interest is an element of damages and the jury does not return an amount for interest, the trial judge is not authorized to include interest in the judgment. Shoup v. Waits, 91 Fla. 378, 107 So. 769; Bailey v. Swartz, Fla.App.1957, 97 So.2d 310.

The judgment, except for the inclusion of an amount as interest, is affirmed and the cause remanded to the trial court for the entry of an amended judgment in conformance with the verdict and the views expressed herein.

Affirmed in part and reversed in part.

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10 cases
  • Plantation Key Developers, Inc. v. Colonial Mortg. Co. of Indiana, Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • February 6, 1979
    ...Florida jurisprudence. See, e. g., Bryan and Sons Corp. v. Klefstad, 265 So.2d 382 (Fla. 4th DCA 1972); Wabash Fire & Casualty Insurance Co. v. Holloway, 139 So.2d 145 (Fla. 3d DCA 1962); Bailey v. Swartz, 97 So.2d 310 (Fla. 3d DCA 1957), Cert. denied, 102 So.2d 728 (Fla.1958). On the other......
  • Commodore Plaza at Century 21 Condominium Ass'n, Inc. v. Cohen, s. 76-767
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • September 20, 1977
    ...breach of contract case and, as such, are to be determined by the jury where a case is tried by a jury. Wabash Fire and Casualty Company v. Holloway, 139 So.2d 145 (Fla. 3rd D.C.A. 1962); Riess v. Goldman, 196 So.2d 184 (Fla. 3rd D.C.A. 1967); Grayson v. Fishlove, 266 So.2d 38 (Fla. 3rd D.C......
  • Underwriters at LaConcorde v. Airtech Services, Inc., 84-230
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • April 23, 1985
    ...cert. denied, 362 So.2d 1051 (Fla.1978); Grayson v. Fishlove, 266 So.2d 38 (Fla. 3d DCA 1972); Wabash Fire & Casualty Insurance Co. v. Holloway, 139 So.2d 145 (Fla. 3d DCA 1962); Bailey v. Swartz, 97 So.2d 310 (Fla. 3d DCA 1957), cert. denied, 102 So.2d 728 Underwriters asserts that the tri......
  • Milohnich v. First Nat. Bank of Miami Springs
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • July 1, 1969
    ...must decide whether such an implied contract exists (see Welborn v. Kemp, 141 Fla. 89, 192 So. 469 (1939); Wabash Fire and Casualty Co. v. Holloway, Fla.App.1962, 139 So.2d 145) or whether such a method of dealing is a usage of the banking trade (see § 671.1--205(2), Fla.Stat. (1967), F.S.A......
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