Following an investigation made after a Manitoba agency reported a compliance issue regarding Ryan Reynold Robert Riffel, the former life accident and sickness agent agreed that he personally paid an insurance company surcharge to appease an angry client.
In addition to the $7,200 he reimbursed the client, the Life Insurance Council of Manitoba ordered Riffel to pay $7,500 in fines and investigation costs. In emails to the council’s investigators, Riffel reportedly says he only made $2,500 on the sale.
The investigation into his conduct was initiated after his former agency gained access to his emails after he was terminated and discovered the agreement between Riffel and a Manitoba client. In the agreement, he agreed to pay the difference in the premium quoted to the insured and what the policy was actually placed for. According to the agreement between Riffel and the client, the payments of $2,400 each year for a period of three years, were made because it was said that the insurance company’s surcharge was unfair.
“Client A accepted the insurer’s policy and then decided the surcharge was absurd. So I was trying to see if I could talk the insurer into dropping it down. I couldn’t. So I fixed it on my own because Client A was very upset,” Riffel wrote in emails to the insurance council’s investigators.
The decision states that pursuant to sections of the province’s Insurance Act, and code of conduct, rebating of premiums is prohibited. “An agent must not share compensation earned from the sale of insurance products with any person who does not hold an agent’s license in the same class of license,” they write. They add that no agent shall directly or indirectly agree to pay any rebate to any person insured or applying for insurance.
Broken down, Riffel’s penalties include a fine of $5,000 and partial investigation costs of $2,500. Any application he makes for a new license will also be reviewed by council for suitability.
