A Superior Court judge in the US has awarded $20 million in punitive damages, in addition to nearly $15 million previously awarded by a jury in compensatory damages, to the Connecticut Auto Repair Shop Owners Association after a 10-year legal battle against The Hartford Insurance Company.

The Association which has 1,000 auto body shops members, filed a lawsuit in 2003, alleging that The Hartford engaged in a pattern of unfair and deceptive acts and practices, violating state law, by steering customers who had been in a crash to certain preferred auto body shops. The lawsuit also alleged that The Hartford provided incentives to its appraisers to establish artificially low hourly rates for auto body repair work.

In 2009, a jury hearing the case awarded $14.77 million to the auto body association, saying that the insurer engaged in a practice that resulted in a loss to the repair shops. The Hartford appealed the ruling and Superior Court Judge Alfred J. Jennings Jr. recently upheld it, adding a further $20 million in punitive damages.

A Hartford's spokesman said they plan a further appeal, although having lost the two previous cases it is difficult to see what new evidence the company can supply to make this a success. The repairers will have to wait until the matter is fully resolved before they can claim a share of the compensation.

The case does illustrate how the legal authorities in many of the US sates sees the practice of insurance steering, something which is viewed as anti competitive and not in the public interest. Ireland and the UK are currently well behind the US in the development of a legal framework that can limit the abuse of power of insurers in the accident repair sector.