Consumer complaint received 2018-02-10
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: VA
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Problem with fees charged

Complaint:
We have a XXXX XXXX XXXX financed with Fifth Third Bank. We received a letter from Fifth Third Bank on XX/XX/XXXX stating they were notified our auto policy was no longer in force and either we or our agent needed to send evidence of our current insurance. Since we have never had our policy cancelled, we contacted our agent on XX/XX/XXXX and asked them to contact Fifth Third Bank to find out why we received this letter. Our agent contacted Fifth Third Bank on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with XXXX who requested a copy of our policy be faxed-no email and was advised by Fifth Third Bank that once the policy was received, it would take 2 days to process. On XX/XX/XXXX, we received another letter from Fifth Third Bank, again advising either we or our agent needed to send evidence of our current insurance. This time, we faxed a copy of the policy ourselves to Fifth Third Bank on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX when we were online to make our payment, we noticed an item on our loan dated XX/XX/XXXX that simply stated " Finance amount '' for {$2900.00}. We also noticed that our normal payment due was listed as {$820.00} rather than the normal amount due of {$490.00}. We contacted our agent again on XX/XX/XXXX and informed them what we discovered on our account and asked them to contact Fifth Third Bank again to find out what was going on. Our agent contacted Fifth Third Bank that day and was told that Fifth Third Bank was not listed as the " Loss Payee '' on our policy. Our agent advised them they were but agreed to fax another copy of the policy to Fifth Third Bank showing they were indeed listed as the Loss Payee. Our agent was advised that it would take 5-7 business days to credit our account. Our agent followed up with Fifth Third Bank on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with XXXX who stated they received all the information needed and that it was processed on XX/XX/XXXX and that it would take 5-7 business days before we would see a credit. We have checked our account on a daily basis since then but we have not been credited the {$2900.00} and our account still shows a current payment due of {$820.00}. We have contacted Fifth Third Bank ourselves on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX & XX/XX/XXXX to inquire why our account has yet to be credited and each time we are originally told they don't have any record of receiving a copy of our policy and when we tell them Fifth Third Bank has already admitted in past calls that they have received it, they suddenly see where it has been received and then will give the same answer of " it's being processed ''. During our XX/XX/XXXX conversation with the insurance services department with Fifth Third Bank, they stated they had sent the request to the Fifth Third Bank 's customer service department to credit our account. We requested a conference call with the customer service department. During this conference call, both departments were arguing with each other, the insurance services department saying they sent it to the customer service department and the customer service department saying they never received it and nothing was resolved during this call. As of the date of this complaint, XX/XX/XXXX, our account as yet to be credited. In the meantime, our account is being charged extra interest on the {$2900.00} and now late charges as we continue to only pay the normal payment amount of {$490.00} rather than the requested amount of {$820.00} which will eventually affect our credit. 
This practice of " Lender Placed Insurance '' should be an illegal practice for these banks or at the very least there should be stricter guidelines placed on the process. XXXX XXXX has been fined for their illegal practices regarding the " Lender Placed Insurance '' and hopefully, Fifth Third Bank will be fined as well.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief