Wells Fargo is under investigation by a national law firm for allegedly improperly charging auto loan consumers for unnecessary car insurance.
According to a report by Oliver Wyman, the bank's actions resulted in about 25,000 wrongful vehicle repossessions and put 274,000 loan holders into delinquency.
Baron & Budd said in a press release July 28 that it has opened the investigation into the banking giant's insurance practices.
The bank's actions, which it told the New York Times affected more than 800,000 Wells Fargo customers, including active-duty military service members, according to the release. It appears that borrowers who were affected had auto insurance from National General Insurance added to their accounts when the bank shared borrowers’ information.
Earlier this year, the firm received approval for a $50 million settlement with Wells Fargo for a case related to improper fee markups for broker price options. In that case, nearly 290,000 individuals received a settlement check for around $120, which is more than double the fee markup they paid.
The company has received negative attention for a variety of incidents and actions in the past few months as well, including allegations of improperly compensating employees for required overtime, trying to require customers into private arbitration and releasing client information, the release said.
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