In August 2022, an Oklahoma driver named Mary Paulding did what any of us would do after a crash where the other driver's insurance maxed out: she turned to her own insurer, Progressive, and asked for the underinsured-motorist benefits she had been paying for. Her claim was $25,000.
What she got instead, according to the trial covered by Repairer Driven News, was the runaround: requests for more medical records, a wage form with a doctor's note, written confirmation that the other driver's insurer had really paid out. The evaluation finally got done — the day after that last confirmation arrived.
This September, a federal jury in Oklahoma decided that wasn't just slow service. It was bad faith — a breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing that every insurer owes its policyholders under Oklahoma law.
The verdict, in numbers
- $20 million in compensatory damages
- $20 million in punitive damages
- $40 million total — on a claim that started at $25,000
Testimony at trial painted the picture of why: adjusters who didn't fully understand how Oklahoma underinsured-motorist claims work, and a company-wide profit-share program that gave employees a reason to keep payouts low. Her lead attorney, Donald E. Smolen II, said afterward that the verdict sends "a clear message to Progressive and to every insurance company doing business in Oklahoma."
What this means if you drive
Your insurance policy is a promise, and juries are increasingly willing to punish companies that treat that promise as optional. If you're ever in Mary Paulding's position: keep every document, every email, every request they send you, and the date you answered it. Her paper trail is what let a jury see the pattern. Your file is your case.
What this means if you fix cars
Shops live between these two verdicts every day. On one side, a $42M judgment for repair work nobody could verify. On the other, a $40M judgment for an insurer that slow-walked a customer. Both stories end the same way: the side with clean, complete, provable documentation walks out of the courtroom whole — and the side without it pays. The shops that document everything, repair to spec, and can prove who did the work aren't just protecting their customers. They're protecting themselves.
That's the world Collision Passport is being built for — one where the people doing the work right can prove it, and where proof is the normal way this industry operates. Verdicts like these aren't outliers anymore. They're the new price tag on "just trust us."
En agosto de 2022, Mary Paulding, una conductora de Oklahoma, le pidió a su aseguranza, Progressive, los $25,000 de su cobertura de motorista con seguro insuficiente después de un accidente. En lugar de pagar, la empresa le dio largas: más papeles, más confirmaciones, más espera.
Este septiembre, un jurado federal en Oklahoma decidió que eso fue mala fe. El veredicto: $20 millones en daños compensatorios más $20 millones en daños punitivos — $40 millones en total, por un reclamo que empezó en $25,000. En el juicio salió a la luz que los ajustadores no entendían bien los reclamos de Oklahoma y que un programa de ganancias de la empresa premiaba pagar menos.
La lección para conductores y talleres es la misma: después de un choque, gana el que tiene pruebas. Guarda cada documento, cada correo, cada fecha. Para eso estamos construyendo Collision Passport — para que la gente que hace el trabajo bien pueda comprobarlo.
Source: "Policyholders win $40 million suit against Progressive," Repairer Driven News, September 11, 2026. Details above are as reported from the trial and verdict; Collision Passport was not a party to the case.
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