Chapter 17 - § 17.2 • CIRCUMSTANCES JUSTIFYING INCREASE IN THE AMOUNT OF PUNITIVE DAMAGES BEYOND THE ACTUAL DAMAGES AWARDED

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 17.2 • CIRCUMSTANCES JUSTIFYING INCREASE IN THE AMOUNT OF PUNITIVE DAMAGES BEYOND THE ACTUAL DAMAGES AWARDED

In Tait v. Hartford Underwriters Insurance Co., 49 P.3d 337 (Colo. App. 2001), the insurer appealed the trial court's decision to increase the amount of punitive damages awarded from $155,104.11 to $200,000 pursuant to C.R.S. § 13-21-102(3)(a). The court of appeals held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in increasing the exemplary award.

The case arose out of an automobile accident that occurred in 1999. The plaintiff, Thurman Tait, filed a claim with his insurer, Hartford, to recover PIP benefits. Tait, who was 80 at the time of the accident, died after the trial, and his personal representative, Tanice Tait, was substituted as the plaintiff after his death. After Hartford denied certain claims for PIP benefits, Tait filed statutory claims in state court for recovery of PIP benefits, as well as claims for breach of contract and insurance bad faith. Because of his age, Tait moved for a preferential trial date, which the trial court granted. However, three weeks before trial, Hartford moved to remove the case to federal court, which refused to accept the case and remanded it to state court because of lack of jurisdiction. One week before trial Hartford again moved to remove the case, with the same result. The federal judge commented that Hartford's removal attempts appeared to be motivated by a desire to defeat the early trial date.

The court of appeals recognized that § 13-21-102(3)(a)

permits a trial court to increase any exemplary damages award to a sum that does not exceed three times the actual damages if, as relevant here, during the pendency of

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