After pleading guilty to the sole count in the complaint at a hearing held on June 22, 2026, former damage insurance broker Loetitia Peverelly (certificate No. 217348) was handed a six-year temporary suspension by the discipline committee of the Chambre de l’assurance. She was also ordered to pay a $6,000 fine.

The respondent represented herself before the committee, without legal counsel. The suspension will take effect once the review periods have expired.

Over a 33-month period, from November 2021 to July 2024, the respondent submitted 122 false claims to Manulife, which administered her employer’s group insurance plan. The claims were for professional services that neither she nor her family members had ever received.

The $10,103 obtained through these unfounded claims was never repaid. The incident also affected the insurance premium paid by the employer for the group plan, the syndic noted among the factors considered in determining the sanction.

The respondent admitted to acting in a manner contrary to the honour and dignity of the profession, thereby violating section 37(7) of the Code of ethics of damage insurance representatives. The committee ordered a conditional stay of proceedings with respect to the other provisions cited in support of the complaint.

As soon as the employer was informed by the insurer, it dismissed the respondent. According to the register maintained by the Autorité des marchés financiers, consulted by the Insurance Portal, the respondent was no longer practising as of January 23, 2025, and her licence has not been renewed since October 1, 2025.

During the insurer’s investigation, the respondent disputed the allegations, made false statements to the syndic’s office and claimed to have evidence supporting her assertions without providing it to the syndic’s investigator.

Before the committee, she explained that she “had been in a state of mental vulnerability following family problems and had not been aware of the consequences this could have.”

When she began submitting the false claims, the respondent had four years of experience in insurance brokerage. She currently works as a risk manager, a position for which she does not require certification.

The respondent was also ordered to pay the disbursements and the costs of publishing the disciplinary notice. She was granted 24 months to pay the fine and disbursements in equal, consecutive monthly instalments.

The initial decision was dated September 11, 2026, and a notice appeared on the Chambre de l’assurance de dommages website before being quickly removed. The sanction was confirmed in a corrected decision dated September 25 and available only in French, which was made public on October 1, 2026.

Case law

The sanction was the subject of a joint recommendation by the parties. The syndic cited several similar precedents, the most recent of which was decided in June 2026. In that case, the respondent was also handed a six-year suspension.

In April 2026, a damage insurance agent received a two-year temporary suspension and a $4,000 fine for a similar offence.

In its recent activity report, the syndic of the Chambre de l’assurance highlighted an increase in cases of group insurance fraud committed by certified representatives against their employers’ plans, among the trends observed in damage insurance investigations.