OUR FORCE PLACED INSURANCE CLASS ACTION. WHEN LENDERS WANT TO PROTECT THEIR INTEREST IN VEHICLES.

Let me begin by apologizing for the very long delay in blog posts…..I’m a busy, practicing Trial Lawyer, who occasionally blogs, and not a professional blogger who ghosts writes a blog…..  Still I’ll try to post more often.

Yesterday, the New York Times published a story related to Wells Fargo, and its conduct of force placing insurance on borrowers cars and adding the premiums for that force placed insurance to their car loans, even when many borrowers already had adequate car insurance of their own.

This type of conduct is not new, and it is not limited to Wells Fargo,this business involves billions of dollars, and many lenders, both here in Florida, and Nationwide.

Almost 20 years ago, in 1999, The Consumers Union and the Center for Economic Justice published a revealing report on this issue.  You can download and read that report here.

Look at what a simple internet search for “collateral protection insurance” reveals.

We’ve already been litigating a class action on behalf of a Mr. Lopez, against a South Florida Credit Union and a collateral protection insurer for similar force placed insurance/collateral protection insurance practices.  We’ve posted the operative class action complaint on our website.

You can review our complaint here.

I cannot imagine that one South Florida Credit Union and Wells Fargo are the only motor vehicle finance companies engaged in this type of conduct. I believe being educated as a consumer is essential. Make sure you look closely at your vehicle sales contract. Make sure the bank or the credit union has not added or charged anything to your account regarding insurance.

When you purchase a vehicle, and you finance it, you can;’t drive it off the dealer’s lot unless you have collision and comprehensive insurance on the vehicle.  If you were still force placed by the lender, I urge you to promptly seek professional advice.