Fla. company ordered to pay $900,000 over stolen-car claim

Judge says ‘trickery’ used to avoid paying couple the original $15K

Calling its employees’ conduct “flagrant, deceitful and outrageous,” a Lehigh County judge on Thursday levied $900,000 in punitive damages against an insurance company that denied an Allentown couple’s stolen car claim in 2016.

In a scathing opinion, Judge Melissa T. Pavlack said defendant Mercury Insurance Company of Florida engaged in “trickery” in its fight to avoid paying plaintiffs David and Heidi Unterberg about $15,000 in the claim, and attempted to paint the couple as “uncooperative” with its investigation.

“This is what happens when insurance companies don’t do what they’re obligated to,” said the Unterbergs’ attorney, Steven A. Bergstein. “The message is very clear, that insurance companies can’t play games with their policy holders.”

In addition to the punitive award, Pavlack also ordered Mercury to pay $186,879 in attorneys fees, $3,595 court costs and $7,427 interest.

The award capped a five-year legal battle that began when the Unterbergs reported their 2009 Buick Enclave stolen from the

outside their North 21st Street home in November 2015. The car was worth about $13,000.

Police found the car three weeks later a few miles away on North Penn Street, heavily damaged. Engine wires were cut, and all the seats were slashed. Glue was poured in the car’s ignition and a stolen license plate was attached.

Following an investigation, Mercury denied the Unterbergs’ insurance claim, saying there was insufficient evidence that the car was stolen because, among other things, investigators did not find signs of forced entry.

Bergstein said the protracted litigation was very stressful for the Unterbergs.

“It was horrible, just horrible. They basically called them liars, accused them of everything under the sun. People get their cars stolen all the time. That’s why you have insurance. The insurance company had no reason not to pay them.”

The judge agreed.

“The character of defendant’s conduct was flagrant, deceitful and outrageous,” Pavlack wrote in her opinion. “Additionally, the tactics used to characterize the plaintiffs as uncooperative were intentional acts of trickery.”

The judge found that Mercury “engaged in repeated acts of reckless indifference toward” the Unterbergs.

Eileen M. Bradley, one of three attorneys that defended Mercury, declined to comment Thursday.