The Insurance Council of British Columbia has issued an order in its case regarding Yun-Wei (Erica) Niu, fining Niu $10,000 plus costs and ordering her to complete continuing education. The decision comes after the council dismissed several other allegations levied against the former agent by clients who were formerly friends.
Although several allegations were not supported by the evidence, several breaches did occur, which the council says “cumulatively must be addressed through significant sanctions.”
Breached E&O responsibilities
Specifically, council concluded the evidence shows Niu breached her mandatory errors and omissions (E&O) responsibilities by failing to be covered by E&O insurance between January 2018 and April 2019. Niu says she attempted to renew her coverage online in 2017, received a message that she would be contacted for further details before her renewal could be completed, but she was not contacted, and she did not follow up on the matter herself.
It was also determined that she forged the signatures of her former friend’s children on two insurance applications completed in 2012. Council also found that she rebated the entirety of the first year’s premiums for a life insurance policy purchased for one of the former friend’s children in 2012. “The complainants’ allegation that the former licensee coerced them into purchasing the policy was not similarly made out,” they write.
“The former licensee admitted that what she had done for the policy in question had the appearance of a 100 per cent rebate but characterized most of the amount she had paid as being the repayment of money that she owed to one of the complainants in a personal capacity. She explained that one of the complainants had bought her several luxury goods during the time of their friendship, and that $7,500 of the $10,000 amount of first year premium rebate had been intended to serve as repayment for those luxury goods. The former licensee admitted to the committee that she should have dealt with the amount she owed to the complainants in a different manner.”
For these transgressions, for failing to follow appropriate procedure when she arranged a replacement life insurance policy for one of the complainants in 2006 and for conducting insurance activities under a business name that was not registered with council, Niu was initially assessed fines over $14,000. Although the current maximum fine that council can levy against an individual following an investigation is $25,000 today, the council says the misconduct in question occurred when the maximum fine it could levy against an individual was $10,000. “In the interest of procedural fairness, council’s cumulative fine against the former licensee will not exceed $10,000,” they write.
Competency issue
“Council’s opinion is that the former licensee’s misconduct stems more from a competency issue than it does from an intentional lack of trustworthiness and good faith. Council intends to require the former licensee to be supervised for two years of active licensing if she reactivates her life agent license, and to also require her to complete four relevant courses prior to being licensed in the future.”
In addition to the fine, supervision and course work, Niu was also ordered to pay costs in the amount of $2,500.
