On behalf of his company’s customers, Ray Gunder of Gunder’s Auto Center in Lakeland, Fla., has filed multiple individual lawsuits against several insurers for their alleged short-pays of what Gunder defines as "fair and reasonable" charges.
In the past week, Gunder instructed his company’s legal counsel, Brent Geohagan, to file four separate lawsuits seeking recovery of the costs for various services and materials provided to his customers of which several insurers allegedly failed or refused to provide ample consideration. In each instance, the individual customer authorized Gunder to act on their behalf to seek recovery of the underpayments that each know are their personal financial obligations. They are as follows:
1. Customer #1, 2001 Suburban – labor rate difference between $48 and $42 for a total of $231.50 – GEICO
2. Customer #2: 2004 BMW X5 – feather, prime and block and related materials, and labor rate difference ($48 vs. $42 ) for $263.54 – State Farm
3. Customer #3: 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee – $2,184.48 (23 different issues), plus car rental short-pay of $87.09 – Infinity Insurance Co.
4. Customer #4: 1998 Suzuki Impreza – the “parts return fees” associated with the return of what Gunder’s terms "defective aftermarket parts" in the amount of $237.54 – Travelers Insurance
5. Customer #5: 2010 Ford Explorer – the costs associated with tint-color ($48), feather, prime and block ($63), PMC Logic P&M invoicing at $479.93, color, sand and polish at $52.80, and $364.80 in labor rate difference ($48 vs. $42 ) – State Farm
“It’s been a busy week or so for our attorney Brent Geohagan; and while many insurers have paid such fees without so much as a whimper, I’m anxious to get these matters before a judge and jury to set a case precedence of which our customers can use in the future to be properly compensated," said Gunder. "Hopefully these types of actions will not be necessary in the foreseeable future…but regardless, we’ll keep ‘pounding the rock!’”
