BURIEN, Wash. - State agents raided a Burien home on Wednesday to search for evidence of criminal fraud and theft. The two-story house is the home office to Premier Auto Glass and Auto Glass Express. Both companies are mobile windshield repair firms.
The state Office of Insurance Commissioner is looking into whether the firms overbilled insurance companies and customers by tens of thousands of dollars.
According to court records obtained by KING 5, since February 2009, investigators for State Farm say they have examined 117 windshield repairs and found in 66 cases that cheaper aftermarket glass was installed while they were billed for the more expensive glass. State Farm states in court records that the alleged fraud cost the company more than $34,000.
State agents and Washington State Troopers collected years of business records and computer records from the Burien home.
"It will take several weeks to go through (the records) and figure out what we have got," said Mitch Barker, Director of the Special Investigations Unit.
The case hinges on whether the mobile windshield repair companies used Original Equipment Manufactured glass, which is the same glass that comes from car factory, or if they used a third-party aftermarket glass.
Acccording to state investigators, the aftermarket glass is generally a less expensive and cheaper grade of glass. Insurance companies typically pay for the more expensive glass to protect their customers.
Barker says his office is looking at 1800 potential cases stretching back four years. If the companies are billing for one glass and using the other, then Barker says "it's a crime , it's theft in essense."
It may take several months before any charges could be filed.
KING 5 spoke to one of the owners of the company by phone. We asked if she or her husband were breaking the law.
"I don't know. He knows all the ins and outs. I only did what he asked me to do," she said.
State Farm says insurance fraud is a $30 billion a year problem in America.
An average household can pay up to $300 a year in additional premiums due to fraud.
To add a comment, please register or login.