Applying judgment interest to special damages (Alberta), assuming settlement in January 2013
The table below reports figures that can be used to apply judgment interest to “special damages” costs which have been incurred over the pre-trial period. For example, if a plaintiff incurs an injury-related expense between the date of the accident and the trial date, then he or she is entitled to be reimbursed for that cost, plus interest (through to the settlement or trial date). The table can be used to estimate how much interest the plaintiff is entitled to receive.
Interest rates are calculated based on the rates mandated by the Judgment Interest Act. The mandated rates (for Alberta) are shown in brackets in the second row of the table.
This table assumes a settlement date of January 15, 2013. We will revise the table every month or so, so the table on this page can always be used if the settlement date is in the current month. If the settlement date (or trial date) is, say, six months from now and you want to calculate pre-judgment interest, you will need a different table (give us a call). If you need to calculate the interest on a pre-trial expense that was incurred before year 2005, you will also need a different table.
To use this table, simply locate the cell which corresponds closest to the date when the pre-trial “special damage” expense was incurred, then increase the amount of the cost by the percentage shown. For example, if there was a cost of $500 that was incurred on September 1, 2005, then the above table indicates that the appropriate amount of judgment interest to apply is 19.57 percent. Therefore, the total claim for this cost should be $597.85 (= $500 × 1.1957).