478 S.W.3d 649 (Tex. 2016)
J & D Towing, LLC, a towing company owned by Robert Davis in Huntsville, Texas, purchased a 2002 Dodge 3500 tow truck in April 2011 for $18,500 and owned only that one truck at the time of the events in question.1 On December 29, 2011, while Davis was driving the truck down Highway 75 to repossess a vehicle, a car driven by Cassandra Brueland struck the passenger side of the truck.2 The parties stipulated that Brueland's negligence was the sole proximate cause of the accident and that the collision rendered the truck a total loss.3
Subsequently, J & D negotiated a settlement with Brueland's insurer.4 On January 12, 2012, the insurer offered to settle the property-damage claim for $10,299.12 if J & D retained the truck or $16,715.61 if the insurer retained it.5 J & D refused these offers, believing the truck's value to be between $19,000 and $20,000, and on February 29, 2012, settled for the $25,000 policy limit.6 Around March 8, 2012, J & D used the settlement proceeds to purchase a replacement truck and resume operations.7
J & D then filed a claim with American Alternative Insurance Corporation under an underinsured-motorist policy, seeking compensation for loss of use of the truck during the period from the accident until the replacement purchase.8 AAIC denied the claim, leading J & D to sue AAIC to recover loss-of-use damages.9 At trial, J & D presented calculations of loss-of-use damages totaling either $27,866.25 or $29,416.25 depending on whether the period was nine or ten weeks, and the jury awarded $28,000.10 The trial court determined the truck's pre-accident value was $19,500, credited AAIC $5,500 from the prior settlement, and entered judgment for J & D in the amount of $22,500 plus interest and costs.
AAIC appealed to the court of appeals, which reversed the judgment, and J & D then appealed to the Supreme Court of Texas.
Whether the owner of personal property that has been totally destroyed may recover loss-of-use damages in addition to the fair market value of the property immediately before the injury?11
The owner of personal property that has been totally destroyed may recover loss-of-use damages in addition to the fair market value of the property immediately before the injury.12 This follows because the guiding principle of Texas tort law requires full and fair compensation for the injury done.13 The distinction between partial and total destruction is illogical for purposes of loss-of-use damages.14
Yes. J & D Towing's only tow truck was rendered a total loss by Brueland's negligence on December 29, 2011, depriving the company of its use until it purchased a replacement around March 8, 2012.15 Loss-of-use damages compensate for the economic injury that flows naturally but not necessarily from that deprivation during the reasonable period needed to obtain replacement property.16 The jury's $28,000 award rested on evidence of lost profits or rental value for the nine- or ten-week period, and the trial court properly credited $5,500 from the prior settlement against the $19,500 pre-accident value.17
These damages satisfy the requirements that they be foreseeable, directly traceable to the tort, non-speculative, and limited to a reasonable replacement period rather than an unreasonably long time.18
The owner of personal property that has been totally destroyed may recover loss-of-use damages in addition to the fair market value of the property immediately before the injury.