Jefferson City, Mo. – Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley is warning consumers to check their bank and insurance statements for irregular activity. Recent disclosures indicate that Wells Fargo may have billed consumers unnecessarily for auto or home insurance.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley (left) testifies before a Missouri House committee in February 2017 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at Missouri House Communications)

Home loan lenders, and some auto loan lenders, may require consumers to have insurance policies to cover the property that was financed by the loan. If the consumer does not obtain the coverage on their own, the lender might purchase a policy on its own and bill it back to the consumer through a practice known as “force-placed insurance.”

According to recent news reports, however, Hawley says Wells Fargo might have been billing consumers for force-placed insurance, even though the consumer had purchased their own separate policy. In some cases, the amounts for this duplicative insurance may have been added to the consumer’s bill and automatically debited from their bank account. Consumers should check their records to be certain that they are not being billed for policies that they do not need.

“We will work to stop the illegal placement of unnecessary insurance,” Hawley says. “Consumers should check to see if they are being charged for duplicative insurance, whether on their home or vehicle. If one of those policies is not necessary or if the policy was placed without the consumer’s knowledge, my office wants to hear about it.”

If you find that you were wrongfully charged for force-placed insurance, call the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-392-8222.