Deceitful US insurer loses appeal against $2.75m damages award
An insurer has lost its appeal against a $2.75m punitive damages award to a woman who was deceived by the company after being seriously injured in a car accident. A lower court heard the Charter Oak Fire Insurance Company claimed Laura Dziadek was not covered when she was involved in the accident in a hire car in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 2008. The insurer also failed to send the complete policy, the court heard. The company's actions were only discovered three years after the accident. The jury in the trial found the insurer liable for deceit and breach of contract.

The circuit court agreed with the district court that there were sufficient facts to find that “Charter Oak did not simply fail to disclose the existence of $900,000 of UIM coverage available to [Ms.] Dziadek, but actively deceived [Ms.] Dziadek and her attorney into believing that there was no such coverage.”

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has affirmed a decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota awarding an injured woman $2.75 million in punitive damages from an insurance company that had “actively deceived” the woman — and her attorney — into believing that no underinsured (UIM) motorist benefits were available to her.