6.1.2008

Money or Nothing? Unconditional Payments and Unjust Enrichment in Jackson V. Jewel Lake Villa One

In Jackman v. Jewel Lake Villa One the Alaska Supreme Court decided that pre-litigation payments made for insurance purposes by the defendant must be credited to the entire measure of damages, including the percentage attributed to the plaintiff, unless specific qualifying language is included with the payment. This ruling creates an inequitable distribution of damages whereby the defendant shares credit for payments made on the defendant’s behalf with the plaintiff, causing offers of judgment made under Rule 68 of the Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure to become disassociated from actual liability. The proposition by the court that pre-litigation payments made by a liability insurer would be made on a basis other than the potential fault of the insured defies both common sense and the profit motive of insurance companies. View full article (PDF).