CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Local customers are coming forward, saying they're among the hundreds of thousands of victims in the Wells Fargo auto insurance scandal.
A well-known Hickory trial lawyer said the bank signed him up for insurance he didn't want or need, not once, but twice, and now he's having credit problems.
Shell Pearce bought two cars a few years ago. Both car loans are through Wells Fargo.
A few months later, Pearce said he noticed his monthly bills getting larger.
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"I thought, surely, this is some sort of mistake, get ironed out,” Pearce said.
But the situation didn’t get any better.
Pearce told Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke the bank had signed him up for insurance on both cars, policies he said he never wanted or needed because he already had insurance.
"It's amazingly frustrating," Pearce said. “Not to be able to just fix it, it's enraging."
Pearce is a lawyer, who is used to contracts and fine print.
"A lot of people don't even realize what's happening to them,” Pearce said.
Wells Fargo admitted in July to enrolling 570,000 customers in insurance that wasn't necessary and promised to give customers refunds totaling $80 million.
[PAST COVERAGE: New Wells Fargo scandal affects motorists’ car insurance]
Lawyers also filed a lawsuit, a possible class action against Wells Fargo, claiming the bank did this to 800,000 customers, leading to repossessions, late fees and credit problems.
[READ MORE: Lawsuit filed against Wells Fargo]
Pearce said that's what happened to him, when he refused to pay the insurance part of the bill, his credit dropped.
He said he went to co-sign a student loan for his son and couldn't.
"He knew and he was gracious enough not to really ask about it,” Pearce said.
Pearce refuses to pay for the insurance.
"There's only so long I can let it go on impacting my family I suppose,” Pearce said.
He's wondering if the bank will sue him, and if he'll end up in court, not as a lawyer, but as a defendant.
Cox Media Group
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