PJC Business 2024

PJC 115.13

D AMAGES

COMMENT When to use. PJC 115.13 should be used if the insured is claiming damages for a violation of Tex. Ins. Code ch. 541. PJC 115.13 should be predicated on a “Yes” answer to PJC 102.14. Instruction required. PJC 115.13 should not be submitted without an instruction on the appropriate measures of damages. See Jackson v. Fontaine’s Clinics, Inc. , 499 S.W.2d 87, 90 (Tex. 1973). See PJC 115.10 for sample instructions. Policy benefits. The supreme court has identified certain circumstances in which policy benefits are recoverable. USAA Texas Lloyds Co. v. Menchaca , 545 S.W.3d 479, 489 (Tex. 2018). Unless both the amount and causation of policy benefits as dam ages are conclusively established, the Committee believes it prudent to submit this ele ment of damages to the jury. Menchaca , 545 S.W.3d at 501–03. Mental anguish. Mental anguish damages may not be recovered under the DTPA or Insurance Code chapter 541 unless a knowing violation is shown. State Farm Life Insurance Co. v. Beaston , 907 S.W.2d 430, 435–36 (Tex. 1995) (former article 21.21). Elements of damages submitted separately. The Committee generally recom mends that multiple elements of damages be separately submitted to the jury. Harris County v. Smith , 96 S.W.3d 230, 233–34 (Tex. 2002) (broad-form submission of valid and invalid elements of damages may lead to harmful error if there is a proper objec tion raising insufficiency of the evidence to support one or more of the elements sub mitted); see also Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §41.008(a) (“In an action in which a claimant seeks recovery of damages, the trier of fact shall determine the amount of economic damages separately from the amount of other compensatory damages.”). Separating economic from noneconomic damages is required to allow the court to apply the limits on recovery of exemplary damages based on economic and noneco nomic damages as required by Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.008(b). Further, “[p]rejudgment interest may not be assessed or recovered on an award of future damages.” Tex. Fin. Code § 304.1045 (wrongful death, personal injury, or prop erty damage cases). Therefore, separation of past and future damages is required. Elements considered separately. Golden Eagle Archery, Inc. v. Jackson , 116 S.W.3d 757, 770 (Tex. 2003), provides an instruction for cases involving undefined or potentially overlapping categories of damages. In those cases, the following language should be substituted for the instruction to consider each element separately: Consider the following elements of damages, if any, and none other. You shall not award any sum of money on any element if you have otherwise, under some other element, awarded a sum of money for the same loss. That is, do not compensate twice for the same loss, if any.

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