Consumer complaint received 2022-08-09
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease — Problem with additional products or services purchased with the loan
Company: Westlake Services, LLC (IL)

I was involved in a total XXXX  accident on XX/XX/XXXX in XXXX XXXX, XXXX, IL. I immediately notified my primary insurance carrier XXXX XXXX XXXX that same day. In addition, I notified Westlake Financial of the loss and inquired about the GAP claim process. I was late on my XXXX payment and asked about a deferral for the payment and was required to pay a fee for such a deferral. I paid the fee later in the month of XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. At no point was I told that a deferral would result in a breach or cancelation of the GAP waiver and was provided no opportunity to pay for the waiver separately from the whole payment. Nothing in the GAP waiver agreement references a cancelation or denial of claim because of a deferral. In fact, in an email I received from Westlake on XX/XX/XXXX, it explicitly states that Westlake had financed the GAP waiver and was adding it to the payment for the loan which lent me to believe that the waiver was paid for in full and was being financed, which is also what the agreement states.. Yet on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX an insurance claim representative from Westlake, which also does business as XXXX, they share a corporate address and are only separated by a suite number and when you call XXXX and inquire about GAP claim, it transfers you to Westlake, told me that my claim was denied because of missed payments and an insurance title adjustment, which I had no control over because the car I purchased and financed through Westlake had a branded title, which Westlake knew about. I had signed a branded title statement and told the finance representative that I was aware that the vehicle had a branded title. Nothing in the GAP agreement makes any reference to a denial of claim based on this situation and only mentions that I would make every effort to obtain the most money from the primary carrier, which I did. 

On my account statement, the insurance payment was applied on XX/XX/XXXX. My deferral was applied on XX/XX/XXXX and I received confirmation on XX/XX/XXXX. I also paid {$50.00} in fees on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX made the settlement payment on XX/XX/XXXX and Westlake cleared the payment on XX/XX/XXXX. How then, is it possible to deny a claim based on missed payments when the company had agreed to defer the payment in question? If I were charged a fee for the deferral, why didn't a portion of said fees apply to GAP coverage? The only reason for my being late on the XXXX payment was due to the fact that I was waiting for the insurance settlement and GAP waiver to settle the account. The company had received {$16000.00} from XXXX, which they had lost and had to initiate a payment search. The payment was actually applied to the account on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX made the payment through the portal, which Westlake Insurance department representatives knew little about and continued to tell me that they were waiting on a check and that there was no portal when in fact it was. They then back dated payment to XX/XX/XXXX. 

I was told by two Westlake Insurance Department representatives in the many conversations had with them. Including on XX/XX/XXXX that the GAP waiver wouldn't cover the extension, which according to the agreement is true. I was not told that this would result in a denial in whole. In fact, on XX/XX/XXXX I had asked specifically about the calculation used to determine what the GAP would cover and was provided no specifics. 

I believe that according to the four corners of the GAP waiver agreement that makes no reference to a deferral causing a denial, makes no reference to a title adjustment causing a denial and further doesn't make any mention of XXXX as the insurance administrator for the GAP waiver that they are in violation of the law.