Miofania Garcia was so excited to buy her first car - a shiny red 2013 Nissan Sentra from Medolli Motors in Hartford.
But excitement turned into disappointment for the 24-year-old Manchester resident.
“I received a letter in the mail stating that my insurance was cancelled through Progressive. I was very confused as to why, when I just purchased this car,” said Miofania Garcia.
Garcia said she registered the car with the manager at Medolli Motors but didn’t have auto insurance.
While in his office, Garcia said the manager told her that she could sign up for a policy right there at the dealership.
She chose Progressive insurance from a list of choices she said the manager gave her, and claimed the manager then filled out the online application for her.
“I gave the information that was needed. My banking information. Whatever he requested, I gave it to him and he did everything behind a computer,” Garcia told NBC Connecticut.
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Two weeks later, Garcia said she received that cancellation letter from Progressive insurance. She said she called the Progressive agent immediately and gave the company the car dealers information. The agent informed her that the reason for the cancellation was due to Medolli Motors not being an authorized insurance agent.
“God forbid something happens, I have my daughter in the vehicle. So, now I have to take action,” said Garcia.
That’s when Miofania contacted NBC Connecticut Responds for help.
We reached Medolli Motors by phone and manager Chris Ozszulak disputed Miofania’s claim, telling us Mendolli Motors doesn’t offer insurance to customers and that he didn’t sign Garcia up for a policy.
He told Responds in a statement:
“In regards to brokering insurance for customers we are neither authorized or unauthorized brokers, we merely allow customers to use our computers to activate a policy through the Progressive website. We receive no compensation, kickbacks or commissions of any kind.”
After we contacted Progressive about the situation, a spokesperson confirmed that Medolli Motors is not an authorized broker of Progressive and said that customers like Garcia can purchase insurance directly through Progressive’s website. The spokesperson told us in a statement:
“We contacted Medolli Motors regarding the policies and told them to cease and desist immediately. To protect the consumer, we only allow licensed insurance agents to sell Progressive products.”
Progressive said it waived the remaining balance of $219.81 on her cancelled insurance policy as a courtesy to Garcia.
“You guys are amazing and the efforts you guys put in to do the job that you do is incredible,” said Garcia.
According to the Connecticut Department of Insurance, this situation is not common and they say they are contacting the customer to find out what happened. They tell us they have also contacted Progressive Insurance to get more details to determine if there were any insurance regulatory violations.
They advise customers to purchase vehicle insurance from a licensed company that’s certified and registered through the state.
Here are some links to the state’s website to find licensed insurance companies and how you can contact them directly:
