In any action brought to recover damages for personal injury sustained by any person resulting from or occasioned by the tort of any other person, corporation, association, or partnership, whether by negligence or by willful intent of the other person, corporation, association, or partnership, and whether the injury was fatal or otherwise, it is lawful for the plaintiff in the complaint to claim interest on the damages alleged as provided in this section.
If the plaintiff makes an offer pursuant to Section 998 of the Code of Civil Procedure which the defendant does not accept prior to trial or within 30 days,
whichever occurs first, and the plaintiff obtains a more favorable judgment, the judgment shall bear interest at the legal rate of 10 percent per annum calculated from the date of the plaintiff’s first offer pursuant to Section 998 of the Code of Civil Procedure which is exceeded by the judgment, and interest shall accrue until the satisfaction of judgment.
This section shall not apply to a public entity, or to a public employee for an act or omission within the scope of employment, and neither the public entity nor the public employee shall be liable, directly or indirectly, to any person for any interest imposed by this section.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
85
cases (
16 in the last 5 years), 1983–2026 · leading case:
Hess v. Ford Motor Co., 41 P.3d 46 (Cal. 2002).
Hess v. Ford Motor Co., 41 P.3d 46 (Cal. 2002).
· cites it 6× “" Thus, he is entitled to 10 percent interest on any such prejudgment interest accrued under Civil Code section 3291. Ford counters that section 3291 does not permit interest on interest, i.”
Martinez v. Brownco Constr. Co., 301 P.3d 1167 (Cal. 2013).
· cites it 2× “) 8 Civil Code section 3291 lends no credibility to the legislative acquiescence argument.”
Wagy v. Brown, 24 Cal. App. 4th 1 (Cal. Ct. App. 1994).
· cites it 5× “” Civil Code section 3291 provides that if plaintiff makes an offer pursuant to section 998 which defendant does not timely accept and “plaintiff obtains a more favorable judgment,” the judgment shall bear interest at 10 percent per annum from the date of the offer.”
Saakyan v. Modern Auto, Inc., 103 Cal. App. 4th 383 (Cal. Ct. App. 2002).
· cites it 8× “(d)) and prejudgment interest (Civ. Code, § 3291) on the ground the first verdict extinguished any rights plaintiffs may have acquired by virtue of their section 998 offers.”
Deocampo v. Ahn, 101 Cal. App. 4th 758 (Cal. Ct. App. 2002).
· cites it 3× “4th at page 981 , where the court stated that “Civil Code section 3291 does not authorize interest on the verdict but only on the judgment.”
Rodriguez v. Nam Min Cho, 236 Cal. App. 4th 742 (Cal. Ct. App. 2015).
· cites it 2× “) The issue was prejudgment interest under Civil Code section 3291. “Civil Code section 3291 .”
Morin v. ABA Recovery Serv., Inc., 195 Cal. App. 3d 200 (Cal. Ct. App. 1987).
· cites it 4× “” Civil Code section 3291 provides in relevant part: “In any action brought to recover damages for personal injury sustained by any person resulting from or occasioned by the tort of any other person, corporation, association, or partnership, whether by negligence or by willful…”
Caro v. Smith, 59 Cal. App. 4th 725 (Cal. Ct. App. 1997).
· cites it 3× “Following the entry of judgment on the order confirming the arbitration award, the court awarded Caro prejudgment interest of $73,431 based on her recovery of a more favorable “judgment” than her pretrial statutory offer of *731 $151,213.”
Bihun v. AT & T Info. Sys., Inc., 13 Cal. App. 4th 976 (Cal. Ct. App. 1993).
· cites it 2× “We proceed now to consider the issue whether an action under FEHA for sexual harassment in the workplace is an action for “personal injury” within the meaning of Civil Code section 3291. Civil Code section 3291 mandates the award of prejudgment interest in “any action brought to…”
Stallman v. Bell, 235 Cal. App. 3d 740 (Cal. Ct. App. 1991).
· cites it 3× “) 3 Additionally, Civil Code section 3291 provides that when a defendant refuses a plaintiff’s offer under Code of Civil Procedure section 998, “and the plaintiff obtains a more favorable judgment, the judgment shall bear interest at the legal rate of 10 percent per annum…”
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