(Bloomberg) – Wells Fargo & Co.'s admission that it charged customers for auto policies they didn't request has prompted an investigation by California's insurance regulator.

"The department will investigate fully to determine the extent to which California consumers were affected by improper placement of force- or lender-placed auto insurance and seek corrective action and penalties in the event that California's consumer protection laws were violated," Commissioner Dave Jones said in a statement Tuesday on the watchdog's website.

Wells Fargo already settled a U.S. probe last year into the unauthorized opening of savings and checking accounts. The San Francisco-based bank said in July that an internal review found that it also placed unnecessary car insurance polices with National General Holding Corp. to protect against losses on auto loans.

Recommended For You

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.