Sansone v. Metropolitan Property & Liability Insurance

This case raises the propriety of a judge’s addition of pre-award interest to an arbitrator’s award. We hold that such an addition is improper and that interest runs only from the date of the award.

The plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle accident on August 10, 1984. After receiving $110,000 from the operators’ insurance carriers, he brought, on July 18, 1988, an action in the Superior Court against the defendant seeking arbitration of his claim for underinsurance benefits. By agreement 1 the matter went to arbitration, and on May 19, 1989, the arbitrator awarded the plaintiff $33,000 “in…