Factual and Procedural Background
This note on interest accompanies a prior opinion dated 28 February 2025 concerning damages awarded to the Plaintiff against multiple Defendants, with only the second Defendant remaining at the time of this note. The prior opinion addressed the amounts awarded for solatium and lump sums for past and future wage loss. The parties were unable to agree on the issue of interest, which is the subject of this note by the presiding judge.
Legal Issues Presented
- Whether interest should be awarded on the solatium portion of damages and, if so, the appropriate calculation method.
- Whether interest should be awarded on past wage loss and, if so, how to quantify the interest given uncertainties in the period of lost earnings.
Arguments of the Parties
Plaintiff's Arguments
- The Plaintiff seeks interest on the solatium amounting to £120,646, calculated by applying the approach used in the prior opinion, attributing damage to approximately 46.5 years ago and deducting 27% of interim payments.
- The Plaintiff submits that 70% of the total £350,000 awarded for wage loss corresponds to past loss (£245,000) based on an estimated working period from 1994 to retirement in 2038 and that interest should be applied to this amount similarly to solatium.
Defendant's Arguments
- The Defendant calculates interest on solatium at £124,779.44 but argues that attributing 27% of interim payments to solatium is incorrect, proposing instead 21.53% based on the proportion of solatium to total damages.
- The Defendant contends there should be no interest awarded on past wage loss.
Table of Precedents Cited
No precedents were cited in the provided opinion.
Court's Reasoning and Analysis
The court accepted the Defendant's correction regarding the percentage of interim payments attributable to solatium, adjusting the interest on solatium to £122,319 accordingly. Regarding past wage loss, the court acknowledged the difficulty in precisely quantifying the period during which the Plaintiff would have worked absent abuse, referencing prior observations that the Plaintiff was unlikely to have worked full-time beyond 2012 but might have worked intermittently for about ten years thereafter.
The court rejected the Plaintiff's straightforward 70% allocation of wage loss to the past, finding it insufficiently reflective of the timing and interruptions in employment. Instead, the court apportioned the £350,000 award into three periods: 5% up to 2012, 45% from 2012 to early 2025, and 50% for future loss.
Given the uncertainties, the court applied a reduced interest rate of 4% (half the standard rate) to past wage loss, calculating interest of £21,700 for the period up to 2012 and £75,600 for 2012 to 2025, totaling £97,300. After a slight reduction to account for interim payments, the interest on past wage loss was fixed at £95,000.
The court concluded that, despite imponderables, some interest on past wage loss was appropriate and combined this with the interest on solatium to arrive at a total interest award of £217,319.
Holding and Implications
The court awarded interest totaling £217,319, comprising £122,319 on solatium and £95,000 on past wage loss. This decision resolves the dispute over interest calculations between the parties.
The ruling directly affects the amounts payable by the remaining Defendant to the Plaintiff but does not establish new legal precedent beyond the application of interest principles to the specific facts of this case.