‘What’s happening is wrong,’ fumes driver after simple issue became $14k bill – she didn’t recognize company on receipt

A WOMAN has been scammed out of nearly $14,400 after having her windshield replaced for a recall – her initials were forged on the claim.

When a windshield develops a crack, it’s important to have it fixed before the crack spreads.

2

2

That’s exactly what Colleen Hernandez did, and the process seemed legitimate – she called her insurance company, Farmers, who sent out a technician from what she thought was a preferred vendor.

She wasn’t asked to show an insurance card or sign any paperwork – just surrendered the keys to the worker and let them do their job.

When she got her Honda CR-V back, the windshield was crack free, and she drove away expecting to pay no more than the typical charge for new windshields.

Seven months later, however, Hernandez was notified by the same company, Florida AutoGlass Guys LLC, that her new windshield needed replacement due to a supposedly dangerous recall.

Assuming the recall would be free of charge from the insurance company, she’d trusted it, and brought her car in.

“She said she would give me a gift card for the inconvenience and that this would be completely free, no charge, as it’s a recall,” Hernandez told CNBC affiliate WFLA.

Hernandez then noticed that the new window was loud, and took it back for a another replacement.

Nothing raised any eyebrows until she had to renew her insurance, which inexplicably doubled to more than $1,000 a month for two cars.

A representative for another insurance company was the first to explain why she was a tough client to insure.

“The representative comes back on the phone and says, ‘Do you know you have three very large comprehensive claims?'” Hernandez recalled.

The claims were shocking – the first windshield was $2,728, then the second was $5,297, and the third was $6,367 – totaling to a whopping $14,393.

The company that fixed her windshield was a stranger to Farmers, and has since opened a fraud claim against them.

Hernandez is not the only one who’s experienced a jaw-dropping fraud claim from Florida AutoGlass Guys LLC, as it has filed 77 windshield lawsuits against insurance companies.

WFLA continued the investigation after Hernandez’s claim, and found the information via Hillsborough County court records, and the Insurance Information Institute says that the premiums are rising as a result.

“The problem is, we all pay for this,” said Mark Friedlander, a representative of the company.

“There should not be a lawsuit over such a simple repair and simple claim as glass replacement. It’s because of these fraudulent actors who are intentionally taking advantage of consumers and charging exorbitant rates that should not be paid.”

WFLA published another story on Marvin Shebroe, who like Hernandez, was slapped with an invoice of over $6,000 for a recalled windshield from Florida AutoGlass Guys LLC.

With two published stories, a serious investigation from Farmers insurance, and now the Insurance Information Institute – as there’s no record of a recall on windshields.

“It just doesn’t smell right,” he added.

“The fact that you did two stories that are so similar, there’s a trend here.”