Houston is a bad place to have your vehicle towed, according to police officers and insurance investigators.
There are several reports of vehicles being towed and towing services that charge victims thousands of dollars to get their cars back, the Insurance Council of Texas reported.
An insurance specialist called Houston “the wild west” when it comes to what some towing services and body shops charge consumers, the ICT said.
Local and state law enforcement agencies, along with insurance fraud groups, have now started to act against these bad actors.
After a joint investigation by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, the Houston Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the law enforcement agency arrested four US-based people in Houston for alleged criminal activity. related to alleged fraudulent towing fees and body repairs.
According to the allegations, drivers were tempted to sign documents that gave the body builder the right to make repairs that were unnecessary and were then billed at extremely high cost.
Officials discovered that one of the suspects had a cell phone jammer that could be used to prevent cell phone service for drivers looking for help with the body shop call.
Insurance investigators say fraudulent towing and body shops literally keep vehicles for ransom until they get the money they asked for, which is sometimes thousands of dollars.
State investigators say this is not the first time the U.S. Collision has been charged with criminal behavior, but efforts to confiscate a vehicle warehouse license require months for an initial hearing before the State Department of Administrative Courts (SOAH) perform.
Mark Hanna, a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas, warned drivers against towing their car in Houston.
“While a towing service has been arrested and charged, investigators say there are many others who take advantage of drivers whose vehicles in Houston and Harris County have either collapsed or been involved in traffic accidents.”
Sam Lynch, a senior investigator at the Texas Authority of Licensing and Registration overseeing tug companies, offered this advice when he was in a situation where you could be confronted with a fraudulent tow truck driver in Houston:
If your vehicle collapses on a Houston freeway, a tow truck service, authorized by the City of Houston Safe-Clear program, will tow your vehicle to a safe place on the road for repair for $ 50 Beware of Auto signal jammer. You will not be asked to sign anything. If your vehicle needs to be towed due to a traffic accident in Houston or Harris County, do not sign anything that a tow driver will tell you. If you need help, seek help from a law enforcement officer in Houston or Harris County.