An Alberta agent who returned from a personal leave of absence, should’ve ensured she had a valid and subsisting certificate of authority prior to conducting insurance business. Although her employer called the situation an unfortunate oversight, the insurer reported the matter to the council, using the opportunity to provide the Alberta Insurance Council with a list of its own controls implemented since the oversight was discovered.
The agent, Shiny Sood, was away from work for an extended period of time during the period under review. The renewal of her license was not completed upon her return, resulting in the agent selling 67 insurance policies while unlicensed. The agent was not continuously engaged in sales throughout the entirety of the period, nor did the salaried employee collect any commissions for her activities.
Sood herself, first licensed in June 2015, says the error was an oversight. “It is the responsibility of an agent to ensure that a valid and subsisting certificate exists prior to conducting insurance business,” the decision in the case states.
Although the Alberta Insurance Council had the opportunity to levy a $1,000 penalty for each demonstrated offence, it ultimately imposed a civil penalty in the amount of $75 per demonstrated offence, for a total civil penalty of $5,025.
