A car insurance company operating in Michigan is facing an onslaught of complaints by its customers, who say it’s using bait and switch tactics to avoid paying claims.
Multiple customers contacted by the Detroit News said CURE Auto Insurance told them their claim was approved after their vehicle was totaled in a crash.
CURE then had the customers relinquish title and possession of the car to the company — and afterwards, used pretexts to cancel their policies and not pay the claim.
Michigan Auto Law founder Steve Gursten said the tactics violate state law. Gursten said the law is clear that car insurance companies are supposed to pay approved claims before obtaining title and possession of the vehicle.
He said people are losing their insurance and often the ability to buy another car due to CURE’s actions.
“These people are just being cast aside,” he said. “It’s the craziest thing. You just have to understand, in (my) 30 years of being an auto accident attorney, there’s no other insurance company that does this.”
Gursten said he thinks CURE is targeting a highly vulnerable segment of the driving population with its tactics. He said CURE heavily advertises lower cost insurance in cities with numerous low-income drivers, including Detroit, Flint, and Battle Creek.
“It seems like that is just not a mistake,” Gursten said. “It seems like it’s part of CURE’s business plan, preying on people less able to get help, to get access to the legal system or hire an attorney, after they’ve been wrongfully harmed.”
The Detroit News found that complaints and lawsuits are being racked up against CURE in numbers far disproportionate to its size.
CURE, which is headquartered in New Jersey, controls only about 1% of the car insurance premium market in Michigan, the News reported, but 13% of the complaints filed with the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services have been by CURE customers.
The News also said CURE had the fifth-highest number of lawsuits filed against it in the metro Detroit region between January 1, 2022, and June 23, 2025.
In a statement, the Department of Insurance and Financial Services did not directly address whether CURE Auto Insurance is violating state law.
“DIFS is committed to protecting Michigan consumers by ensuring that insurers are acting in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations,” the agency said. “Auto insurance claims are highly individualized based on the circumstance of the loss and policy terms, and as such the department cannot generalize. We strongly encourage any person who needs assistance with insurance concerns to contact DIFS at 877-999-6442 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., email DIFSComplaints@michigan.gov, or file a complaint online at Michigan.gov/DIFScomplaints.”
CURE did not respond to a request for comment.
Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.