An insurance company has reached an agreement with Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey to provide refunds to Massachusetts homeowners who, the attorney general contended, had been improperly charged for force-placed insurance policies.
In a statement, the attorney general said that the settlement with the insurer, QBE Insurance Corp., required refunds for Massachusetts homeowners whose mortgage lenders had wrongly force-placed the consumers with QBE despite the fact that the consumers already had home insurance with other companies, as well as consumers who had been overcharged by QBE because their homes had been misclassified as commercial properties.
“We will continue to ensure that mortgage lenders and their insurance business partners do not overcharge Massachusetts residents or force them to pay for unnecessary insurance,” Attorney General Healey said. The agreement with QBE “provides Massachusetts homeowners the restitution they deserve.”
The attorney general said that her office would conduct an audit to ensure all eligible consumers received full restitution. To date, the attorney general's office has identified potentially improper charges that could result in more than $1 million in relief to Massachusetts homeowners. Aside from amounts identified in the audit, the agreement also required QBE to pay $375,000 to the state.
Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].