USAA offered $10,000 for the brain injury, then testified against its own customer. Clark County jury: $114 million.

Timothy Kuhn had paid USAA premiums for 17 years before a Ford F-150 rear-ended his stationary BMW at 45 mph in 2018. The company that marketed itself to military families on a promise of loyalty would spend the next seven years telling him - in writing, then in court - that his traumatic brain injury was not their problem.

The Crash Nobody Disputed

The Nevada collision was uncontested. Kuhn was sitting in stopped traffic. The other driver, Hector Cervantes-Andrade, hit him from behind doing 45 mph. USAA reviewed the evidence and confirmed what dashcams and physics already had: the other driver was 100% at fault. Kuhn walked away with neck and back injuries plus the harder-to-see ones. Memory loss. Headaches. Loss of smell. Executive-function problems. He went to neurologists across multiple states.

The $10,000 Offer

With medical bills mounting, Kuhn turned to his own insurer. USAA - the company that had already ruled him blameless - offered $10,000 for a traumatic brain injury. His attorneys at Bighorn Law called it what it was. He rejected it and sued the at-fault driver directly, which is exactly what underinsured-motorist coverage exists for.

Then USAA Switched Sides

This is where the case becomes a CWR story. USAA intervened in Kuhn's lawsuit against the other driver and argued that Kuhn was partially responsible for the crash. The same company that had ruled him not at fault then hired two expert witnesses to testify his brain injury was not real. As his attorney Kimball Jones later put it: "USAA knew whose fault it was while they were blaming Tim."

Days Before Trial: A Change of Heart

With the case heading to a Clark County, Nevada courtroom in January 2025, USAA finally offered the full $250,000 policy limit - the number Kuhn had been entitled to from the start. It came days before opening arguments. He turned it down.

What the Jury Said

The jury awarded $14 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages. Punitives exist for one reason: to punish a defendant the jury found acted in deliberate bad faith. Total verdict: $114 million, or 11,400 times the original offer. Case number A-20-821602-C, Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County. USAA said it "respectfully disagrees with the verdict" and has signalled an appeal.