Farmers Sues L.A. Body Shop for Alleged Fraud

Farmers Insurance Exchange has begun serving civil summons and complaints upon a Los Angeles body shop and its director, accusing them of taking part in a scheme designed to defraud Farmers and its policyholders. The civil complaint, which is similar to prior successful lawsuits against body shops that submitted false insurance claims, seeks damages for the fraud committed.

The lawsuit details a systematic scheme where the body shop billed Farmers for services that were never performed. This includes billing for parts and labor that were never provided. Once Farmers suspected fraud, it immediately inspected the cars involved and exposed physical evidence of fraud.

Farmers$(B S(Bpecial Investigations Unit, which includes body shop experts, inspected 10 vehicles repaired by Bracha Inc., dba Best of the West Carstar Auto Body and dba Exclusive Collision Center, and documented fraud in the repair invoice for each vehicle. Farmers is seeking over $250,000 in statutory damages for the intentional actions of the defendants.