The Insurance Council of British Columbia (ICoBC) has sanctioned Gordon Kimberley Hinkson, fining Hinkson $4,500 for not completing sufficient continuing education (CE) over the course of the three years the council audited his practice.
Hinkson also failed to inform the British Columbia council that the agency had been the subject of discipline by another regulator and failed to inform the regulator that he was without errors and omissions (E&O) insurance for 118 days in 2021 – in both of these instances, the regulator declined to levy any additional penalties.
In addition to the $4,500 fine, Hinkson must also complete remedial coursework and complete the missing 42.25 credits he failed to complete between 2020 and 2023, before December 22, 2025. Hinkson and his agency, Ocean West Financial Group Inc., were jointly and severally assessed the council’s investigation costs in the amount of $1,000.
A life and accident and sickness insurance agent since April 1990 and the sole licensee of Ocean West Financial, a licensed agency since February 2007, Hinkson confirmed to the council that he failed to report that he’d been disciplined by the Insurance Councils of Saskatchewan (ICS) for the E&O lapse. A subsequent audit of Hinkson’s practice uncovered the missing CE credits.
“The licensee further stated that there had been insufficient follow-up by the E&O agency, which contributed (to) the agency’s E&O insurance lapse,” the intended decision in the British Columbia case states. Regarding the missing CE credits, Hinkson claimed his terminated assistant handled his records and he did not have access to her files.
Mitigating and aggravating factors
In discussing mitigating and aggravating factors, the British Columbia council says it considered that the agent had already been disciplined in Saskatchewan for the E&O lapse. That it was his first transgression in British Columbia was also held up as the council’s reason for not sanctioning the agent for not notifying the council about the existing disciplinary matters. Hinkson failing to complete his CE requirements over three consecutive periods was noted as an aggravating factor.
“Council believed that the mitigating factors did not significantly outweigh the aggravating factors,” they write. Regarding the E&O lapse, however, “council accepted that the E&O agency had provided the incorrect E&O policy to the licensee and the agency and that the licensee and agency believed there was a valid E&O policy at the time.”
Broken down, the $4,500 fine is comprised of $1,000 for each year Hinkson was unable to provide proof of having completed sufficient CE and $500 for each misstatement about the CE credits on his annual license renewal declarations. “A fine was not appropriate for the E&O lapses. Similarly, council found that a fine was not appropriate for the agency’s failure to notify council of the disciplinary matter from the Insurance Councils of Saskatchewan, given that this was the first offence.”
