TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) —Marvin Shebroe and Colleen Hernandez both say they filed a claim with Farmers Insurance for a cracked windshield.
Both say months later, their phones rang and they thought they were talking to the company who replaced their windshield. They say they were told there was a recall that could be fixed for free. Later, they discovered bills for thousands of dollars sent to their insurance company, contributing to skyrocketing premiums.
Another similarity: In both cases, the bills were generated by a Sarasota company, The Florida AutoGlass Guys, LLC. No one from the company will return my calls and there’s no public record of the bills they’ve sent insurance companies.
Windshield replacement turns into $14,393 in claims and doubled premiums
Hillsborough County court records show the Florida AutoGlass Guys, LLC has filed 77 windshield lawsuits against insurance companies since July 2023.
Thirty-eight of those have been filed this year, against numerous insurance companies. Mark Friedlander of the Insurance Information Institute says lawsuits like these are driving up our premiums.