The General Insurance Council of the Alberta Insurance Council has issued a decision in the matter of former agent, Belinda Peacock, after Peacock admitted to requesting payments from clients before depositing those payments into her personal bank account and forging documentation to clients, leaving them uninsured.
The council’s investigation commenced in response to a notice of termination received from Peacock’s former employer. Until she was terminated, Peacock was a general level two insurance agent, holding that certificate from January 1996 until March 2021 when she was fired for cause. Peacock had worked with the agency in question since June 2018. “Belinda has acknowledged that those events did occur and admitted to depositing client funds into her own bank account for a period of roughly a year,” the decision document states. The former agency says their investigation found 22 affected clients. Even after she was terminated, Peacock continued to contact some of her former clients to borrow money.
“Consumers who purchase insurance products expect that insurance agents will act with the utmost good faith while carrying out their work,” the decision states. “A significant civil penalty is warranted under the circumstances.” All told the council fined Peacock $5,000 per demonstrated offence, resulting in a total civil penalty of $110,000. The council adds that if she were licensed, the council would have exercised its authority to revoke the agent’s certificates of authority.
