Hello!
I'm trying to help my brother in law in regards to an issue hes dealing with a Honda Dealer. Here is the situation.
He went to a Honda Dealership last month to purchase a new car, he explained it was his first car and the salesman said they'd be able to help him get a low insurance rate. The salesperson took his information, and came back with a quote.
Last night, he received a letter from Progressive stating that the information provided to gather the quote was incorrect and they adjusted his rate from $800 for 6 months to $6000 for 6 months. When he called, it turns out that basically all of the information the car salesman provided to Progressive was incorrect. Things they lied about;
- Finance vs Lease
- Age he received license
- Stated he had car insurance prior
- Provided fake previous car insurance information
- Stated he had taken defensive driving course when he has not.
Did the car salesman commit insurance fraud? Does he have any legal recourse?
I know what he needs to do going forward (get new rates, adjust information etc etc) but I'm specifically looking to report this if it is insurance fraud to ensure it doesn't happen again.
Let me further state, I know hes an idiot and he got taken advantage of by a dealership and sales person and that all they do is lie. What I need to know/find out is if they broke the law/committed fraud.
Posted by Jsand117
2 Comments
Short answer is yes – this is insurance fraud.
However, there is a lot more here that needs to be addressed.
The sales rep could obtain a quote or discuss with a broker friend, but they wouldn’t be able to set up a policy in your brothers name without his consent. So was that ever provided?
Was the policy ever bound? In theory anybody could call in and get a quote for certain conditions, doesn’t mean it’s a valid policy. If that’s the case, then the insurers anti fraud measures worked in this case.
If the policy was bound, then your brother could be implicated if he provided consent to the sales guy to speak on his behalf.
Otherwise, there isn’t much you can do from a legal perspective since the insurer caught it. I suggest finding a new dealership – not just a new location, but look up the owner and stay away from all their locations.
You can report the guy at the dealership to the department of insurance but your brother in law most certainly signed an application that stated all of those things were true.