The Insurance Council of British Columbia announced it has fined Carl Bernard Brodie $2,500 for letting his errors and omissions (E&O) insurance lapse for a period of three months, for failing to inform the regulator that he was uninsured, and for failing to inform the regulator that he was being disciplined by a regulator in another province, as well.
In its intended decision, the council writes that the life, accident and sickness insurance agent, licensed with the regulator since 2007, failed to maintain E&O insurance for a period of three months between December 2017 and March 2018. A review of his practice and an audit of his E&O coverage also found that Brodie failed to notify council that his authority to represent an agency had ended.
The life agent, actively licensed with three provincial insurance regulators, says the breaches occurred unintentionally, the result of a communications error during a busy period when he was a nominee for two agencies, a dealing representative for an exempt market dealer and also an advisor providing financial planning services.
In examining aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the council noted that Brodie has since taken steps to ensure the insurance lapse would not happen again in the future. “Notable steps taken have included the hiring of a person to assist with administrative duties, and delegation by the licensee of a number of responsibilities to others,” the council states in its intended decision. “Council considered it an aggravating factor that, at the time of the breaches, the licensee had been licensed for over a decade. As such, he should have known better and ought to have acted in accordance with his obligations und under the Council Rules.”
In addition to the fine of $2,500, Brodie is also required to complete the Council Rules Course, available through Advocis, before July 8, 2021.
