West Virginia: Prejudgment Interest Rules

The short answer

West Virginia splits prejudgment interest into two tracks that work completely differently, and which one applies depends on the kind of claim. A breach-of-contract claim goes through West Virginia Code § 56-6-27: the jury decides whether to add interest to the principal, and the statute doesn't set a rate at all. Miss the step of asking the jury to decide it, and the interest is gone — there's no second chance under a different statute. Every other kind of claim — most importantly, personal-injury special damages like medical bills and lost wages — goes through § 56-6-31(b) instead: the court decides whether to award interest, at an actual statutory rate that resets each year (6.25% for judgments entered in 2026). Either way, the interest is simple, never compounding.

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Two statutes, and which one controls depends entirely on the type of claim. The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals settled this in Miller v. WesBanco Bank, Inc., 859 S.E.2d 306 (2021): "West Virginia Code section 56-6-27 provides the exclusive means by which to obtain prejudgment interest in any action founded on contract." That rule traces back to Thompson v. Stuckey, 171 W. Va. 483 (1983), and has been reaffirmed repeatedly since. For every other kind of claim — tort, or anything not "founded on contract" — § 56-6-31(b) is the operative statute instead, letting the court award interest on special or liquidated damages.

Interest rate

The two tracks use completely different rate mechanisms. Under § 56-6-31(b), the rate is set by formula: two percentage points above the Fifth Federal Reserve District's secondary discount rate as published on January 2 of the year the claim accrued, with a floor of 4% and a cap of 9%. The West Virginia Supreme Court's Administrative Office publishes the resulting number every year; for 2026, it's 6.25%. If the underlying obligation is based on a written agreement, that agreement's own rate controls instead, until judgment is entered. Under § 56-6-27, by contrast, there's no statutory rate at all — the jury simply decides "interest on the principal due" as part of computing the verdict, without a fixed formula to apply.

When interest starts running

Under § 56-6-31(b), interest on special or liquidated damages accrues only up through the date of judgment — it never applies to future, not-yet-incurred damages — with the court determining the specific accrual date for each item of special damage based on the evidence. Under § 56-6-27, the statute directs the jury to find "the aggregate of principal and interest due at the time of the trial," meaning the interest the jury adds is computed as of trial, with the resulting aggregate then also drawing interest "from the date of the verdict" forward under a different rate mechanism.

Contract vs. tort claims

This is where West Virginia stands out: the split isn't about the rate or the accrual date, it's about who decides and under what statute. A contract claim's prejudgment interest lives or dies with a jury instruction under § 56-6-27 — a plaintiff must specifically ask the jury to decide it, or the right is waived, with no ability to fall back on § 56-6-31's court-decided mechanism instead. Every non-contract claim skips the jury issue entirely and goes straight to the judge under § 56-6-31(b).

Mandatory or discretionary

Discretionary under both tracks, just with different decision-makers. For a contract claim, Thompson v. Stuckey held that a claimant is entitled to have the jury instructed that it may allow interest — not that the jury must award it. For special or liquidated damages under § 56-6-31(b), the statute itself says the court "may award" prejudgment interest, again framing it as discretionary rather than automatic.

Simple or compound

Simple interest only. Section 56-6-31(a) states this directly for all West Virginia money judgments: they "shall bear simple, not compounding, interest." Subsection (b) repeats the same simple-interest requirement specifically for special and liquidated damages.

Claims against the government

No dedicated prejudgment-interest rule appears in the West Virginia Governmental Tort Claims and Insurance Reform Act (W. Va. Code §§ 29-12A-1 to -18), which governs claims against political subdivisions like cities and counties. That Act bars punitive damages and caps noneconomic-loss damages, but its list of 18 sections has no provision addressing interest at all — so the ordinary §§ 56-6-27/56-6-31 rules presumptively apply to a political subdivision defendant the same way they would to a private one. Claims against the State of West Virginia itself work differently: the state's own sovereign immunity generally routes such claims to the state Claims Commission rather than ordinary civil court, a process outside this survey's scope.

Other exceptions

The clearest trap in West Virginia's system is the contract-claim waiver: because § 56-6-27 is the exclusive route for a contract claim, forgetting to ask the jury to decide prejudgment interest forfeits it completely — a court can't award it after the fact under § 56-6-31 instead, even though that statute otherwise covers "contract" judgments in its general opening language. Beyond that, a written agreement's own interest terms displace the § 56-6-31(b) statutory rate for as long as the case is pending, switching over to the general postjudgment rate only once judgment is entered.

What trips people up

The single biggest trap is assuming West Virginia has one unified prejudgment-interest rule. It doesn't — and the two tracks aren't just different rates, they're different procedures with different failure points. A lawyer trying a breach-of-contract case who forgets to submit a jury instruction on prejudgment interest loses the client's interest entirely, with no statutory safety net. That's a sharper consequence than most states' prejudgment-interest rules, where the worst case is usually just a lower or discretionary rate rather than an outright waiver.

The other surprise is that § 56-6-27 has no rate at all. Someone expecting every state to have a specific percentage for contract prejudgment interest will find West Virginia's contract-claim statute silent on the number — it's genuinely left to the jury, guided by argument and evidence rather than a statutory formula.

Common questions

Does West Virginia's prejudgment interest rate change every year?
Only for the § 56-6-31(b) track (non-contract claims). The rate is locked in based on the Fifth Federal Reserve District's discount rate as of January 2 of the year the claim accrued, then stays fixed for that claim regardless of later rate changes. For 2026, that rate is 6.25%.

What happens if my contract case goes to trial and I forget to ask for prejudgment interest?
You lose it. West Virginia courts have held that § 56-6-27 is the exclusive means of obtaining prejudgment interest on a contract claim, and failing to submit the question to the jury waives the right — there's no other statute to fall back on.

Does West Virginia's prejudgment interest compound?
No. Section 56-6-31(a) expressly makes every West Virginia money judgment bear simple, not compounding, interest.

Can I get prejudgment interest on a personal-injury claim in West Virginia?
Yes, potentially — but through § 56-6-31(b), not § 56-6-27, and only for "special damages" (like medical bills and lost wages) or liquidated amounts, decided by the court rather than the jury, and never for future damages.

Statutes and sources

• W. Va. Code § 56-6-27 — "The jury, in any action founded on contract, may allow interest on the principal due, or any part thereof, and in all cases they shall find the aggregate of principal and interest due at the time of the trial, after allowing all proper credits, payments and sets-off; and judgment shall be entered for such aggregate with interest from the date of the verdict." Accessed 2026-07-05: https://web.archive.org/web/20251217124249/https://code.wvlegislature.gov/56-6-27/
• W. Va. Code § 56-6-31(a) — "Except where it is otherwise provided by law, every judgment or decree for the payment of money, whether in an action sounding in tort, contract, or otherwise, entered by any court of this state shall bear simple, not compounding, interest, whether it is stated in the judgment decree or not." Accessed 2026-07-05: https://web.archive.org/web/20260108155416/https://code.wvlegislature.gov/56-6-31/
• W. Va. Code § 56-6-31(b) — "In any judgment or decree that contains special damages... or for liquidated damages, the court may award prejudgment interest... Special damages include lost wages and income, medical expenses, damages to tangible personal property and similar out-of-pocket expenditures, as determined by the court. If an obligation is based upon a written agreement, the obligation bears prejudgment interest at the rate and terms set forth in the written agreement until the date the judgment or decree is entered..." Accessed 2026-07-05: https://web.archive.org/web/20260108155416/https://code.wvlegislature.gov/56-6-31/
• W. Va. Code § 56-6-31(b)(1) — "the rate of prejudgment interest is two percentage points above the Fifth Federal Reserve District secondary discount rate in effect on January 2, of the year in which the right to bring the action has accrued... Provided, That the rate of the prejudgment interest may not exceed nine percent per annum or be less than four percent per annum." Accessed 2026-07-05: https://web.archive.org/web/20260108155416/https://code.wvlegislature.gov/56-6-31/
• Miller v. WesBanco Bank, Inc., No. 20-0041, 859 S.E.2d 306 (W. Va. 2021) — "West Virginia Code section 56-6-27 provides the exclusive means by which to obtain prejudgment interest in any action founded on contract. Failure to submit the question of prejudgment interest to the jury results in waiver of the same." Accessed 2026-07-05: https://law.justia.com/cases/west-virginia/supreme-court/2021/20-0041.html
• Administrative Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, 2026 Interest Rate press release — "The rate of interest on judgments and decrees entered in 2026... is set at 6.25 percent." Accessed 2026-07-05: http://www.courtswv.gov/public-resources/news-publications/press-page/press-releases/supreme-court-sets-2026-interest-rate