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Amerson v. Willis3/2/1993
!--REF-->229 S.E.2d 690 (1976) (in personal injury suit corporation's lost profits not recoverable by driver/shareholder where question of proximate cause existed); Ling v. Bell, 23 N.C. App. 10, 207 S.E.2d 789 (1974) (plaintiff could recover for loss of use of vehicle owned by him but usually operated by his wife); Gillespie v. Draughn, 54 N.C. App. 413, 283 S.E.2d 548 (1981), disc. rev. denied, 304 N.C. 726, 288 S.E.2d 805 (1982) (plaintiff failed to meet burden of proof for loss of use damages, because he failed to show that he was the owner, that the vehicle could have been promptly repaired, and that the cost of a substitute vehicle was $20 per day). None of these cases directly addresses the issue, and none of them hold that an ownership interest is necessary for recovery of lost profits due to loss of use of a vehicle.
Appellants also look to American Jurisprudence 2d for support, citing it for the proposition that ownership or some legal interest is required. 22 Am. Jur. 2d, Damages, ยง 443 (1988). However, that source states that an ownership or possessory interest can be a basis for loss of use damages. Id. Clearly, Phillip Amerson had a possessory interest in the vehicle. At the time of the accident he was using it in his lime-fertilizer spreading business. It is not disputed that he had his wife's permission to do so. Moreover, Philip Amerson's use of the truck was to his wife's benefit since it enabled him to work and produce income.
We hold that plaintiff was not required to prove that he held an actual ownership interest in the damaged vehicle in order to
recover for lost profits due to loss of use. It was sufficient that he had the vehicle in his possession at the time of the accident, and that he normally used it in the course of his business with the permission of its owner, his wife. The judgment of the trial court is
Affirmed.
Judges WELLS and EAGLES concur.
Disposition
Affirmed.
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