OXNARD : Encino Insurer Settles Lawsuit

An Encino insurance company accused of selling auto insurance that did not protect car buyers as promised, has settled a civil lawsuit filed by the Ventura County district attorney’s office.

Western General Insurance Co. was accused of unfair business practices and of making false and misleading statements for allegedly selling extended car warranties that were not in force at the time of purchase.

The complaint was filed after an Oxnard auto dealer went out of business, leaving 90 of its customers with worthless extended warranties, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Rebecca Riley of the Consumer and Environmental Protection Division.

The warranties said buyers were covered by simply purchasing the warranties from the auto dealership, Riley said. But since the dealership did not have insurance of its own to guarantee the warranties, as required by law, the consumer was not protected unless the dealership paid premiums to the insurance company, Riley said.

“So often with these kinds of cases, if something like this is going on, you don’t know until somebody complains about it,” Riley said.

Without admitting wrongdoing, Western General agreed to pay $125,000 to Ventura County, $30,000 in investigative costs to the district attorney’s office, $10,000 to the state Consumer Protection Prosecution Trust Fund and to reinstate and reimburse those consumers who were cut off from coverage.