A game of cat-and-mouse ended badly for State Farm Automobile Insurance Co. after an appellate court Wednesday threw out a nearly $167,000 judgment, finding the insurer never properly served a driver it tracked down for more than three years.

State Farm Automobile Insurance Co. tried for three years to serve Tamas Tibor Krisztian with court papers to collect medical expenses for its client, Renee Fiore, who was reportedly injured in a rear-end traffic collision with Krisztian.