A level 2 agent, first licensed in March 2006, is being sanctioned by the General Insurance Council of the Alberta Insurance Council after she misappropriated funds on two occasions by getting clients to pay their policy premiums through an email money transfer directly to her personal account. Theresa Broekhuizen says on both occasions she was blocked from remitting the premiums to her agency when its internal systems were not working.

Although the claim is plausible, the council says the allegations of improper workplace conduct and theft were substantiated.

Broekhuizen herself says she has accepted at least three or four electronic money transfer (EMT) payments personally before transferring the amounts to the company’s account. The agent’s manager confirmed to the council that under no circumstances is an EMT payment acceptable, “and Ms. Broekhuizen knows that given her experience within the insurance industry. Upon review, Ms. Broekhuizen has offered EMT payments to customers on more than one occasion.” 

Discovered after one client’s tenant policy was cancelled for non-payment, Broekhuizen said the clients preferred the EMT option but when the time came to process the payment back to the agency, a technical problem prevented it and Broekhuizen forgot shortly thereafter. In the other instance, Broekhuizen said the payment system closes daily at 5p.m. for maintenance, a statement later confirmed to be untrue.

After taking a leave of absence, the firm’s managers found many issues with the agent’s work, including outstanding policies that were not bound, causing risks for clients.

“Three instances where she instructed customers to pay via EMT were discovered. (In two of the instances she then failed to remit the premiums to her company.) This pattern of behaviour suggests that Ms. Broekhuizen is accepting funds from customers without any knowledge by the company. Not only is this considered a form of theft as the company never received the funds, but Ms. Broekhuizen’s actions have also impacted the affected policies and customers associated with those policies, creating additional risk for the company,” the decision in the case states.

The insurance council ultimately imposed a civil penalty of $5,000 for each demonstrated offence, totalling $10,000.