Regulator fines, suspends husband and wife

In two separate cases, the Insurance Council of British Columbia has fined and suspended general agents, Harry William Forsberg and Suzanne Claire Forsberg for using false receipt information to override the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia’s (ICBC) Autoplan system to process orders for clients who had “refuse to issue” (RTI) restrictions on their licenses.

In British Columbia, customers who have unpaid toll bridge fees can be subject to RTI restrictions on their drivers licenses, vehicle licenses and insurance policies.

Transactions are not permitted unless the customer has resolved their toll bridge debt directly with the toll bridge administrator. RTI restrictions could then be removed by the insurance agents by entering the receipt number provided to the customer. A glitch in the system allowed agents to enter false receipt numbers to override the restrictions – which they did for themselves and for several clients.

Provided false receipt information

During its investigation of the matter, the ICBC determined that Suzanne Forsberg processed 30 false transactions to remove the restrictions for clients while Harry Forsberg processed six. Both Forsbergs were also sanctioned for providing false receipt information to their managers in order to remove similar restrictions on their own licenses.

During the council’s investigation the pair eventually came clean, but lied initially about their actions, each blaming their manager for coming up with the falsified receipt numbers, before blaming each other at various times during the investigation. 

Pursuant to the orders issued by the insurance council, Suzanne Forsberg’s general insurance license is suspended for ten months, while Harry Forsberg’s general insurance license is suspended for eight. The agents were fined $5,000 and $3,000, respectively, and assessed hearing costs of $2,654.05 and $2,695.65 respectively. Both agents must also complete the Ethics for Insurance Brokers course through the Insurance Brokers Association of British Columbia before the end of their suspensions.