British Columbia cancels agent’s license for two years

The Insurance Council of British Columbia has canceled Manpreet Kaur Brar’s life accident and sickness insurance agent’s license, and assessed investigation costs, after Brar sold a large number of terminated disability income policies. Brar is accused of failing to assess the suitability of insurance products for clients and for failing to maintain client files and notes.

Licensed since January 2015, Brar’s contract with one insurer was terminated with cause in November 2019. A year later, in November 2020 the company reported the results of its investigation into Brar’s business practices to the insurance regulator.

While Brar had an advisor agreement with the insurer, that company in turn had an arrangement with a second insurer that allowed contracted financial advisors to offer the second insurer’s disability income products.

After it was noted that Brar sold a large number of terminated disability income policies, the company commenced a review of the business she placed with both carriers. The investigation found Brar listed as the pre-authorized checking (PAC) payor on an unrelated client’s application. Her phone number was listed on multiple client applications and it was noted that at two specific addresses there were more than 20 individuals living in a single dwelling household.

The council’s intended decision goes on to say that there were significant lapses of policies due to insufficient payments from the bank accounts that were used to pay the premiums for multiple clients. Client notes were also photocopied and reused for three additional clients with the same employer.

The insurer confirmed that one Canadian bank account was associated with 19 applications. Another credit union bank account was associated with 28 applications. When one of the insurer’s managers attended three residences in an attempt to verify the identities of nine clients, the manager was only able to verify the identity of one client. One of the residences was under renovation and the individuals living at the third residence moved in earlier that year and did not know Brar. Phone numbers provided on applications were unassigned. During the investigation another client contacted the insurer to say they were paying premiums on two policies they had not applied for and confirmed that the signatures on the applications were not theirs.

“As a result of the reversal of commissions associated with the terminated disability income policies, the licensee has accumulated more than $146,000 in debt with the second insurer,” the council’s intended decision states. “The licensee also has a debt of $25,888.51 with the insurer the licensee held a contract with.” 

When questioned by investigators, Brar maintained that all the sales were legitimate, it was common in some cultures for multiple families to reside in a single-family dwelling and that clients would stop paying premiums when they went abroad to visit family. She was unsure about why some phone numbers were unassigned, said the bank accounts belonged to the extended family of the applicants, and that client notes could be found in the client files, but that the insurer had retained these. (A review of the files later found no client notes for any of the policies in question.)

In the decision, the council says Brar should’ve advised clients that they had the ability to reinstate policies instead of writing new policies for those who did not pay premiums, adding that she failed to provide clients with full information, demonstrated poor judgement and did not act in the client’s or the insurer’s best interests.

“Council concluded, based on the seriousness of the licensee’s misconduct that the licensee should not hold a license,” the intended decision states. “The licensee would pose a threat to the public if allowed to continue holding an insurance license.” 

In addition to the two-year suspension, Brar was ordered to pay costs in the amount of $2,687.50.