General Agent, Matthew Bergin is being sanctioned by the Alberta Insurance Council after the council investigated allegations brought to light by Bergin’s former agency, the Libel Insurance Group.
The council’s investigation established that Bergin, licensed in the industry since March 2012, intentionally misrepresented coverage, sent confirmations of insurance to clients, provided pink cards and took change requests, all without binding policies for three separate clients.
“The agent failed to bind polices for at least three separate clients, despite the agent having sent confirmations of insurance and pink cards to the clients,” the insurance council writes in its agreed statement of facts. “The agent (also) took multiple change requests on the various unbound polices and advised the respective clients that the changes had been made when, in actuality, none of the requests or changes were entered into the former agency’s broker management system. None of the changes or requests were processed or submitted to the insurance companies.”
In an email to his former agency, Bergin admits that he was too ashamed and embarrassed to address the issue once he discovered it. To insurance council investigators, he states that his incompetence was the reason he did not disclose the issues to clients or to his former agency. The investigation also found that no premiums were charged; Bergin did not receive any commissions from the unbound policies.
To sanction the agent, the insurance council has ordered Bergin to pay a civil penalty of $5,000. It also issued a warning, saying “the agent is aware that any similar occurrence (in the future) may potentially result in a fine as high as $5,000 per each occurrence of intentionally misrepresenting coverage.”
