Arlington insurance lawyers need to know what to look for in a case to determine how likely it is to achieve punitive damages. A 1998, Texas Supreme Court opinion sheds some light on how the court looks at punitive damages evidence. The style of the case is, State Farm Fire & Casualty Company v. Simmons. Here is some of the relevant evidence in the case.
The plaintiff in this case, Simmons, had purchased his first home by financing through a VA loan. Simmons was a construction supervisor who fell on hard times when his work slowed down. Simmons arranged a repayment program with the VA that substantially lowered his monthly payments. The same month he worked out this refinance program, his home was burglarized. The burglary occurred in the day and none of Simmons neighbors saw any wrong acts around Simmons home. Simmons began his own investigation and followed some wheel barrow tracks through the woods around his house to the home of Mattix, who later confessed to the police that he had committed the burglary of Simmons home. State Farm paid Simmons for this loss. Simmons then experienced a rash of vandalism to his property. Simmons then left to take his children to Louisiana for the summer. He planned to return right away because he had to work the next day. Soon after he left, someone noticed smoke from Simmons home. His home was completely destroyed by fire. State Farm denied the fire loss claim.
At trial, the jury made a finding that Simmons did not burn his own home, then found that State Farm had breached its duty of good faith and fair dealing in handling the claim and for knowingly violating the DTPA. The jury also determined State Farm acted with conscious indifference in determining whether there was a reasonable basis to deny Simmons claim. Based on these findings, Simmons was awarded $275,000 for actual damages and $2 million in punitive damages.