YouTuber From Matt's Off-Road Recovery Is Charged With Insurance Fraud
Lisa Steuer McArdle
· 4 min read
.webp&w=3840&q=1)
If you're a fan of unlikely rescues and cars bouncing over boulders, then you may be one of the 900,000 followers of Matt's Off-Road Recovery.
This extremely popular YouTube channel features YouTuber Matt Wetzel rescuing various vehicles from the treacherous off-road reaches in and around Zion National Park in Utah. The channel is full of wicked-awesome rescues out in the Utah wilderness, compliments of Wetzel's personal towing company, Matt's Off-Road Recovery.
However, this hero of the off-road rescue has recently been slammed with over $15,000 in car insurance fraud charges, a second-degree felony in Utah. Though he claims that every charge was for a legitimate service, it's a thorny issue for the dual business owner and YouTube star.
Are you overpaying for your car insurance?
Compare quotes and find out in 45 seconds.
4.717k Ratings5M+Drivers Joined
7M+Cars Garaged
The story behind the AAA insurance fraud incident by the star of Matt's Off-Road Recovery
So what exactly happened? How did this Utah do-gooder turned YouTube star wind up facing second-degree felony charges for insurance fraud?
In reviewing the facts, it looks like a classic case of "working the system" and getting your hand caught in the cookie jar. The three incidents featured in
The Drive
all make use of AAA coverage in situations where it is not, entirely, appropriate.In the first incident, Wetzel rescues a Polaris RZR and the owner uses a friend's AAA to cover the cost. However, AAA does not cover this type of vehicle. This one, we could almost chalk up to a misunderstanding. A "Here, use my card" with a policy oversight. But the other incidents are not so innocent.
In the second incident, Wetzel is clearly trying to help out, but with less than perfect adherence to the law. Wetzel rescues a vehicle for an owner without AAA. Then it is suggested that the owner sign up for AAA and report the tow a few days later to clear the costs.
The problem? Not only are the dates wrong, but so are the locations—quoting a tow from Las Vegas to Washington County, instead of the original drive from Apple Valley.
Shady? Yes, but maybe understandable.
The third incident, however, was definitely a little more than helpful payment management. An insurance fraud investigation identified three tows to Salt Lake City that weren't tows at all. They were deliveries of construction supplies billed through AAA as tow jobs. Perhaps Wetzel was getting a little too comfortable using AAA as his go-to for service coverage that is not really covered.
Wrong on the front end, fair on the back end
MORE: The 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Edition Is a Camping Enthusiast's Dream
When questioned, Wetzel admits that he knows the process was wrong, but says he was trying to do the right thing. He is adamant that every charge may not have been for a tow, or a tow on the right day, but they were all payment for a legitimate service. An investigator told
The Salt Lake City Tribune
that Wetzel held that every deal that was a little (or a lot) fraudulent was "wrong on the front-end, but fair on the back."What we see is a classic case of a guy who's trying to do the right thing, but does it the wrong way. We can see where Wetzel was coming from—providing tows for drivers who didn't have full coverage and trying to save them a buck using AAA's responsive coverage policies. And it almost worked.
If not for those construction delivery charges, it was almost all legit. The Polaris might even have been an honest mistake on everyone's part, marked as the first incident in a well-meaning insurance scam that, unfortunately, got out of hand.
The moral of the story
Usually, the moral of Matt's Off-Road Recovery’s stories is don't take a two-wheel driver or inexperienced drivers on the Utah jeep trails. But that's not the case this time.
The moral of this story is to
have the right insurance coverage
—and know your policy—before you take the Utah jeep trails. Two out of three of these incidents wouldn't have happened if the drivers had the right coverage when they needed a tow. As for Matt Wetzel, he's still on air, posting new YouTube videos despite the insurance fraud incident. Hopefully he has learned his lesson here: If you find a loophole, don't exploit it until you get caught.
If you need the right coverage for your vehicular adventures—whether that's the daily commute or taking on the treacherous Utah jeep trails—the insurance app
Jerry
can help you find the best price and full coverage for your needs. No matter what you get up to on the road or how far down the rocks you get before calling the tow truck.
