The General Insurance Council of Manitoba has issued a $500 fine, but assessed partial investigation costs of $2,500 after Kenneth Wayne Munroe withdrew his request for a hearing about work he completed and received compensation for as an adjuster while his license was lapsed.
After signing an attestation form which presented licensure requirements back in April 2016, Munroe then told the insurance council that he would not be renewing his adjusters’ licenses. He was advised that he was prohibited from transacting the business of insurance once his license lapsed due to non-renewal in July 2016.
Later, in response to information received by council, an investigation was conducted which found that Munroe was acting on behalf of clients in 2019, who retained him to negotiate a settlement for them with an insurer over a claim under their policy.
In 2019 the clients – the complainants – signed Munroe’s authorization to work on their behalf. He invoiced the complainants and received compensation for his services. The insurers understood the former adjuster to be acting in the capacity as a public adjuster. Munroe also used adjuster designations which require licensure to use, and included these in his correspondence with both the insurer and his clients.
When questioned, he said he was operating under an exemption to licensure, pursuant to the province’s Insurance Act. The section cited states that those employed as an appraiser, engineer, or other expert, solely for the purpose of giving expert advice or evidence, are exempt from needing a license.
“Negotiation, settlement, or investigation of a loss or claim under a contract by an insurer are activities of an adjuster,” the council’s decision states. “By his own evidence, the former licensee’s activities encompassed negotiation, settlement and investigation of the complainant’s loss and claim under the contract of insurance they had with the insurer. Council reviewed the totality of the evidence and the definition of an adjuster.”
The decision further states that Munroe had been his firm’s designated representative for nearly ten years. “He also had extensive years of experience in the industry at a senior level and ought to have been accustomed to regulatory requirements, inclusive of the requirement for licensure to act and hold out as an adjuster,” they write. “Council considered but did not accept the former licensee’s perspective that he was acting through an exemption.”
