PERSONAL INJURIES, PROPERTY DAMAGE 6:11

B: PROPERTY DAMAGE

6:11 PERSONAL PROPERTY – DIFFERENCE IN MARKET VALUE

If you find in favor of the plaintiff, (name), you shall award as (his) (her) actual damages the difference between the market value of the property immediately before and its market value immediately after the occurrence.

1. The Notes on Use to Instruction 6:1 under the subtopic “the Collateral Source Rule,” are also applicable in this instruction.
2. This instruction should be used where the property damaged has a market value, and there is evidence of total or substantial destruction. Compare Notes on Use to Instruction 6:12. In certain cases the plaintiff may be entitled to other damages as well. See, e.g., cases cited below in Source and Authority. See also Cope v. Vermeer Sales & Serv. Of Colo., Inc., 650 P. 2d 1307, 1309 (Colo. App.), cert denied (1982) (plaintiff entitled to recover loss of profits anticipated from use of negligently damaged property; “the rule which precludes recovering of uncertain and speculative damages applies only where the fact of damages is uncertain; not where the amount is uncertain”).
3. Under §5-12-102(1)(a) and (b), C.R.S. prejudgment interest, calculated by the court rather than the jury is recoverable on damages for injury to personal property. Isbill Assocs., Inc. v. City & County of Denver, 666 P.2d. 1117 (Colo. App. 1983).

Source and Authority
This instruction is supported by State v. Morison, 148 Colo. 79, 365 P.2d 266 (1961); and Trujillo v. Wilson, 117 Colo. 430, 189 P.2d 147 (1948) (plaintiff also entitled to recover expense of reasonable efforts to preserve or restore the property).

Research References
ALR Annotations:
Measure of damages for conversion or loss of, or damage to, personal property having no market value, 12 ALR2d 902.
Damages recoverable from warehouseman for negligence causing injury to, or destruction of, goods of a perishable nature, 32 ALR2d 910.
Measure and elements of damages for killing or injuring dog, 1 ALR3d 977.
Valuation of wearing apparel or household goods kept by owner for personal use, in action for loss or conversion of, or injury to such property, 34 ALR3d 816.
Liability of property owner for damages from spread of accidental fire originating on his property, 17 ALR5th 547.
Right to compensation for real property damaged by law enforcement personnel in course of apprehending suspect, 23 ALR5th 834.
Nuisance as entitling owner or occupant of real estate to recover damages for personal inconvenience, discomfort, annoyance, anguish, or sickness, distinct from, or in addition to damages for depreciation in value of property or its use, 25 ALR5th 568.

American Jurisprudence:
As a measure of elements of damages to motor vehicles, generally, see 8 Am JUR 2d, Automobiles and Highway Traffic §§ 1128 et seq. (1980).
As a market value as measure of damages to personal property, see 22 AM JUR 2d, Damages §§ 429, 430, 437 (1988).

Practice Aids:
For elements of proof of value in question and answer form, see 3 AM JUR PROOF OF FACTS 491, Damages.
Damages FOR Injury To Real Property, 42 AM JUR PROOF OF FACTS 2d 247.
Damages FOR Unauthorized Geophysical Explorations, 48 AM JUR PROOF of FACTS 2d 153.
As to proving value of property having no market value, see Damages for Loss of Personal Property with Little or No Market Value, in 3 AM JUR PROOF OF FACTS 3d 171.
Damages For Injury To Personal Property –Motor Vehicle, 18 AM JUR PROOF OF FACTS 3d 239.
Recovery of Damages For Injury To Landowner’s Property From Environmental Condition On Neighboring Land, 37 AM JUR PROOF OF FACTS 3d 439.
45 AM JUR PROOF OF FACTS 3d 519, Recovery of Damages for Loss of View or Visibility Resulting from Construction of Highway or Other Public Improvement.
56 AM JUR TRIALS 369, Recovery of Damages for Property Devaluation Caused by Off-Site Environmental Hazards.