C. "account Stated" and "sum Certain" for Statutory Interest

• Library: South Carolina Damages (SCBar) (2009 Ed.)

C. "Account Stated" and "Sum Certain" for Statutory Interest

Section 34-31-20(A) allows prejudgment interest for accounts stated and for cases involving a sum certain.

On an account stated, a party must establish several elements to be entitled to prejudgment interest. "The essential elements of an account stated are (1) that the account is actually stated; and (2) that the parties either expressly or impliedly agreed that it is a true statement and is due to be paid then or at some other specified time."¹⁰

The importance of establishing these elements is demonstrated by the case of T.W. Morton Builders, Inc. v. von Buedingen,¹¹ in which the South Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed the master's denial of prejudgment interest on the basis there was no account stated for certain cost overruns.¹² The court explained that the fact that T.W. Morton had successfully proved the additional amount due for the cost overruns did not automatically entitle it to prejudgment interest:

The master found poor business practices on the part of both parties. He in turn found the parties responsible for allowing the project to get out of hand, and determined that prejudgment interest was inappropriate. Implicitly, the master concluded that while the parties agreed to the changes in the project, they did not have a stated account as to the cost overruns.
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T.W. Morton's success in proving the additional amount due for the renovations does not automatically translate into entitlement to prejudgment interest on the unpaid balance. To establish its right to prejudgment interest, T.W. Morton had the burden of establishing a stated account and the parties' agreement, express or implied, that the account is a true statement due at a specific point.¹³

Prejudgment interest is allowable when there is a sum certain due and payable, i.e., when the claim is "liquidated."¹⁴ "Prejudgment...