AGRR magazine/glassBYTEs.com™has learned about a case in which a glass shop allegedly fraudulently overbilled an insurance company for the cost of an RV windshield, then made restitution when the overbilling was discovered during a routine audit.

None of the parties involved in the case-the RV glass supplier, state insurance fraud personnel or insurance company-would talk on the record about the incident, so we can't discuss the names of those involved. We can, however, report the outline of what happened.

According to the glassBYTEs investigation into the matter, the glass shop allegedly forged and submitted a bogus invoice to the insurance company showing a higher amount than the amount it had paid for a piece of RV glass. Since there is no benchmark pricing for this glass, this is a generally accepted practice so that the insurance company knows what the glass cost. Because some information was missing from the invoice, it was sent back to the supplier of the glass shown on the letterhead. Officials there immediately recognized that it was a fake invoice with a false price. The insurance fraud unit in the state where the glass shop is located was contacted.

When presented with the evidence, the glass shop said it had been an error and paid the insurance company the $148 difference between the cost of the glass and the billing amount.

However, officials at the state insurance fraud unit where the glass shop is located and the investigation took place said they are "looking into" any evidence of a pattern of systematic overbilling in RV windshield invoices.