The Insurance Councils Appeal Board of Alberta has set aside an Alberta Insurance Council (AIC) decision sanctioning former agent, Anthony Bentley, and ordered Bentley’s fines and appeal fees returned to him, after it was found that the investigation into his case ceased when the investigator assigned to his case left the AIC.
Bentley had been transferring an existing client book to the agency which reported him to the AIC. In the appeal board’s reasons for decision and order, they write “the fact that there was a contractual relationship between the appellant and Insureline which was to lead to the sale of his general insurance book of business was lost on the investigator and the council. The fact that the CEO and the designated representative stood to benefit from the appellant’s clients and paid nothing for it raises serious questions.”
The council’s original position was that Bentley created fraudulent insurance documents for non-existent policies and knowingly provided false documents to clients. In its appeal decision and order, the appeal board added that there was a dearth of evidence presented by the council. “The departure of the investigator caused further problems. It seems that no one continued the investigation after receipt of the appellant’s April 13, 2019 email,” they write.
“It is clear to the panel that the council cannot meet the burden that the appellant intentionally or recklessly created false documents of insurance for clients,” they add. “The evidence is incomplete and, as such, does not show intention nor even the necessary deliberate underlying acts or omissions by the appellant.”
Instead, they say the applications and documents shown in the case simply illustrate normal broker or agent behaviour. “The procedure described by the appellant accorded with industry practice at the time.”
