In addition to upholding a $28 million jury award against an insurance company in a class-action suit over universal life insurance policies, a Missouri appellate court recently sent a portion of the case to the trial court to after determining the plaintiffs were also entitled to prejudgment interest.

In Karr v. Kansas City Life Insurance Co., the Jackson County Circuit Court entered a jury's $28.3 million verdict in favor of David B. Karr and others. However, the lower court declined to award prejudgment interest. On appeal, the Missouri Court of Appeals concluded the lower court correctly delivered a judgment in favor of Karr, who filed a breach of contract suit against Kansas City Life Insurance Co. (KCL), over how the accumulated cash value for the policies were calculated by reducing each policy's monthly cash value by an overstated monthly deduction comprised of a "cost of insurance" amount and a "monthly expense charge," according to the the Sept. 24 opinion.