INSURER TO PAY $8 MILLION:

State Farm Insurance has been ordered to pay more than $8 million to a tow truck driver and his sister-in-law who were acquitted of insurance fraud after being accused of faking the theft of a vehicle. Jackson County Circuit Judge Charles Atwell said he would award $4.5 million to Jennie Hampton, of suburban Olathe, Kan., owner of the Toyota 4Runner reported stolen in 1997, and $4.2 million to Marvin Vail, 33, of Edgerton, Kan. “We felt that a significant punitive award was justified, particularly given State Farm’s size and conduct,” said Attorney James P. Frickleton, who represented Hampton and Vail. “We’re very pleased with the court’s decision and feel it’s a continuing vindication of Ms. Hampton and Mr. Vail.”

Hampton and Vail sued State Farm Insurance and the National Insurance Crime Bureau, an organization that investigates insurance fraud. Jurors in September awarded $800,000 in damages to the pair after finding they were the victims of malicious prosecution. But the decision on punitive damages was left to Atwell. The crime bureau settled with the pair after trial.

After Hampton’s vehicle was found burned in rural Miami County, Kan., in December 1997, State Farm refused to pay her claim. The company accused her of lying in claiming that the Toyota’s engine was in “excellent'” condition before the reported theft, citing reports she had talked about engine a few weeks before the event. Hampton and Vail were acquitted in May 2001. Frickleton said State Farm and the insurance crime bureau relied on incomplete, hearsay evidence in seeking the prosecution.