MIAMI -- The Channel 10 Investigators are taking a close look at a South Florida auto insurance company.

Critics say this company is in the business of "denying, delaying, and not paying" when it comes to personal injury protection, or PIP, claims

It's an assertion the company strongly rejects.

Channel 10 Investigator Jilda Unruh said, "United Auto Insurance insists it is in a war against rampant insurance fraud. But according to sources we talked to, and documents we obtained, the company's fight against fraud may be more about simple greed."

Armando Canals says he suffered a herniated disk after being rear-ended in an auto accident in April of last year. He says he also got stuck with more than $7,000 in unpaid doctor's bills because his insurance company, United Auto, refused to pay the claims.

Canals said, "I mean they're there to collect the premiums. They're there to take your money. And then when you have a claim, they don't pay."

Mark and Felicia Benson say United hasn't paid their doctor bills either -- after a car accident in October 2000.

Mark Benson: It's slightly over $4,000 considering our deductible and so forth.

Unruh: It's the same story we also heard from numerous medical providers throughout Miami-Dade and Broward. In Tamarac, Florida MRI reports 44 unpaid United Auto claims.

Unruh: Have you ever run into another insurance company that's done what United Auto Insurance appears to be doing?

Kent Bernarduci, Florida MRI: Not in my 11 years of experience have I seen anything like this before.

Neither has Dr. Mike Scholz, a chiropractor with offices in Hialeah, North Miami and South Miami.

Scholz: They've paid two since I've been in practice.

Unruh: And that would be how long?

Scholz: About four, maybe five years.

He says many of his patients are low-income, non-English speaking immigrants who are often attracted to United Auto because they think it's cheaper, or because they are high-risk drivers, other insurance companies refuse to insure.

Scholz: Every new patient I have with that insurance turns out to be a lawsuit.

Dick Parrillo is president of United Auto.

Parrillo: We are running a 100 percent legitimate business. The squawks that you're getting is the fraud that we're fighting. And we're going to continue to fight the fraud and it's a war. I don't know of reputable doctors, reputable hospitals that say we don't pay them. OK.

Dr. Alan Wagshul says so. He's a neurologist and former chief of staff at South Miami Hospital. Wagshul was also voted one of the area's "best doctors" in 1999 by Miami Metro Magazine.

Wagshul said, "We've had 22 patients since 1999 in our practice that had United Auto Insurance. The total billed was approximately $22,000 for those 22 people. Nothing's been paid by united auto all that time."

And then there's Jackson Memorial Hospital which informed us, that as of the end of August, United Auto owed JMH $260,000 in past due, unpaid claims.

According to the Public Health Trust, those unpaid United Auto PIP claims were preventing the hospital from collecting more than $2 million from health insurers that refuse to settle bills, until the patients' PIP insurance is paid.

United officials refute that, and insist Jackson never told the company about any alleged collection problems or unpaid bills.

Unruh: You've never not paid a Jackson bill?

Parrillo: I cannot remember a Jackson bill that was not paid.

Sandra Iglesias is claims manager for United Auto.

Iglesias: The only reason I can think that a Jackson bill would not be paid is if the person did not qualify.

Troy Ferguson is United Auto's chief claims litigator.

Unruh: Do you pay hospital bills?

Ferguson: We pay hospital bills.

Unruh: Do you pay emergency room bills?

Ferguson: We can't pay those fast enough.

Yet United Auto's assertion that it pays hospital bills quickly appears to be contradicted by sworn testimony we obtained.

From a deposition dated Feb. 18, 2002, United's PIP claims manager Mariam Deblanco in a PIP suit filed by a local doctor:

Lawyer: Do you return hospital bills for lack of counter signature?

Deblanco: Yes we do.

Lawyer: Do you return ambulance bills for lack of counter signature?

Deblanco Yes, we do … we return a lot of medical bills.

Scholz: It's any way they can deny or delay or not pay, they find a way.

A person, who asked us to disguise their identity, is a former claims adjuster with United Auto who says they enjoyed working there, but left for a better job.

Unidentified former worker: There was a motto that we used... The motto was deny, delay, don't pay.

Unruh: You heard Dick Parrillo Sr. say, "Deny, delay, don't pay" more than once?

Former employee: I would say a few times. Management would say that. The PIP managers would say that."

Unruh: Is deny, delay, don't pay the mantra here?

Parrillo: I don't believe so.

Unruh: In fact, a number of former United Auto attorneys and claims adjusters, who did not want to be identified, all told me the same thing: that the company calls everything fraud and uses any excuse not to pay most claims.

Former employee: They got greedy, and they just didn't want to pay anymore.

The situation has forced Wagshul and others we spoke with, to do the unimaginable for a physician.

Wagshul: We've dropped United Auto Insurance patients.

Unruh: You're refusing to treat them?

Wagshul: We're refusing to treat them.

Ferguson: We are fighting the PIP fraud as Darth Vader.

Mark Benson: I think every insurance company fights fraud, but I don't think you fight fraud by not paying legitimate bills that are due.

Unruh: The company promised to explain why they denied Armando Canals' claim -- but so far they've only sent us a computer printout of a previous arrest record, none of which involved charges of insurance fraud.

In the end, Canals paid $3,000 to $4,000 out of pocket after his doctor reduced his bill.

As for the Bensons, after our interview with them, United Auto agreed to pay Felicia's emergency room doctor's bill, plus interest. The Bensons say her other doctors are still trying to collect from United.

Both the Bensons and Canals have dropped United Insurance.

Also, after our interview, United said it was willing to work with Jackson Memorial Hospital to determine what is owed.

Next, we'll show you the desperate measures some people are using to collect, even court ordered payments, from United Auto.