A class action lawsuit was filed in Utah federal court against insurance agencies who are alleged to defrauding Hispanic customers by intentionally not disclosing the availability, cost and purpose of buying uninsured and under-insured motorist protections.
The defendants are Florida-based United Automobile Insurance Company, and Utah agencies: El Sol Insurance, Amigos Insurance and Las Americas Insurance.
The suit claims that the defendants, urge customers who cannot understand English, to sign an English-language form waiving the uninsured and underinsured motorist protections.
These add-on coverages are relatively inexpensive, and Utah does not require drivers to have the extra coverage. But Utah does require insurance agents to fully inform new customers about the legal and medical consequences of being hit by a driver who is underinsured or uninsured.
The fraud lawsuit claims the defendants breached their duty of good faith and fair dealing when they intentionally misled their customers to chose the option to reject uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage or chose that option for them.
The insurance company benefits immensely because many Hispanics are clustered into the same zip codes, and when those uninsured or underinsured people crash into each other, the insurance company ends up not having to pay those claims.
Legal Analysis: Another scam being perpetrated by the Insurance agencies; anything to get out of paying a claim.