The Insurance Council of British Columbia has published an order and intended decision, fining relatively inexperienced agent, Levita Bueno Velasco, after Velasco was found to have ignored the continuing education (CE) requirements requisite for maintaining an insurance license in the province.
Licensed since January 2019, Velasco had reportedly sold only 10 policies between then and September 2023 when the council’s intended decision was first published.
When her 2021 annual license renewal was submitted incomplete, an audit was initiated by council staff and the agent was asked to submit CE records for all three licensing periods. Velasco told council staff that she could not locate her CE certificates and did not realize the credits she had were insufficient.
During the council’s investigation, Velasco also reportedly delayed her responses to investigators, at times for months, and provided duplicate CE records in an effort to come up with sufficient documentation.
“Council finds that the licensee had failed to obtain the required CE credits for the license periods and further failed to respond promptly to inquiries from council,” the regulator states. While the council found Velasco’s lack of experience to be slightly mitigating, having completed only three of the 45 required CE credits at the time of the audit was noted as being a significantly aggravating factor in the case. “The breach showed a flagrant disregard for the laws governing the licensee’s conduct.”
In addition to a fine of $3,000 (broken down, the council says this is $1,000 for each year), Velasco must also complete the Council Rules Course and all CE credits which remain outstanding since the 2018/2019 licensing period. As well, she must be supervised going forward, for 12 months of active licensing. Velasco was also assessed investigation costs of $750.
