Fleming

Defendant Safeco appeals from a judgment rendered against it pursuant to jury verdict and from an order denying Safeco’s motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

Statement of Facts

Plaintiff suffered severe injuries in an automobile accident on April 27, 1974, when the automobile in which she was riding as a passenger was rear ended by a stolen vehicle. At the time of the accident she was insured for medical payments and Uninsured Motorist Coverage with Safeco as an additional insured under her parents’ policy. The limits of the policy for the incident in question were $15,000. Some time after the accident an offer of $10,000 was made by Safeco and rejected by plaintiff, and the matter was eventually resolved by an arbitration award in the sum of $15,000 in November of 1975, approximately one and one-half years after the accident.

After payment of the award, plaintiff brought the instant action for compensatory and punitive damages on the ground that Safeco had been guilty of bad faith as well as malicious and oppressive conduct in the handling of her claim. The jury returned a special verdict in plaintiff’s favor on October 14, 1981, in which it found among…