DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The national law firm of Baron & Budd announced today it is investigating Wells Fargo for improperly charging customers for auto loans they did not need. Earlier this week, Wells Fargo officials confirmed to The New York Times that the bank engaged in improper insurance practices. Customers who obtained auto loans from Wells Fargo between 2012 and 2017 may have been affected by the improper practices.
A report prepared by the global consulting firm Oliver Wyman reveals that more than 800,000 Wells Fargo customers were charged for auto insurance they did not want or need. The report goes on to state that the expense of this unneeded coverage pushed approximately 274,000 loan holders into delinquency, and resulted in about 25,000 wrongful vehicle repossessions. Some of the customers affected were active duty military service members.
According to the report, Wells Fargo shared borrowers’ information with National General Insurance, which then automatically placed auto insurance on the customers’ accounts. If customers learned of these unwanted charges, they were forced to notify Wells Fargo that they were being charged for insurance they never requested.
“Baron & Budd has spent a great deal of time getting to know Wells Fargo while successfully representing hundreds of thousands of clients who were harmed by the bank’s various misdeeds,” said Roland Tellis, head of the Consumer Class Action group at the national law firm of Baron & Budd. “The revelation of this latest breach of customer trust appears to fit right into the Wells Fargo playbook of dirty deeds, and sadly comes as no surprise. In fact, it deeply troubles me that eroding regulations and arbitration clauses have caused the banks to callously view their customers as targets for one profit driven scheme after another.”
In April 2017, Baron & Budd received final approval of a $50 million non-reversionary common fund settlement with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., which resolved a case alleging improper markups of fees for broker price opinions. As a result of the settlement, each of the nearly 290,000 plaintiffs automatically received a settlement check, which on average totaled about $120 – more than double the fee markup each plaintiff paid. Class members in this case were not required to complete paperwork or provide “proof” of their claim to receive payment. (Bias et al. v. Wells Fargo: Case No.: 12-cv-00664 YGR, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California).
In addition to the BPO scandal, Wells Fargo has come under fire in recent months for mistakenly releasing clients’ private data, requiring employees to work overtime without proper compensation, and trying to avoid lawsuits that hold them accountable by forcing customers into private arbitration.
If you or someone you know obtained a car loan from Wells Fargo and were charged for unnecessary or unwanted auto insurance as a result, you may be entitled to compensation. Please call 866-700-8994 if you would like more information.
ABOUT BARON & BUDD, P.C.
The law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C., with offices in Dallas, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Austin, Los Angeles, and San Diego, is a nationally recognized law firm with a nearly 40-year history of "Protecting What's Right" for people, communities and businesses harmed by negligence. Baron & Budd's size and resources enable the firm to take on large and complex cases. The firm represents individuals and government and business entities in areas as diverse as dangerous pharmaceuticals and medical devices, environmental contamination, the Gulf oil spill, financial fraud, overtime violations, deceptive advertising, automotive defects, trucking accidents, nursing home abuse, and asbestos-related illnesses such as mesothelioma.
