The Insurance Council of British Columbia has banned former general insurance agent, Kulwinderpal Singh Khosah for three years with no opportunity to apply for an insurance license until June 2024, after Khosah failed to notify the insurance council about a series of criminal charges and convictions he received throughout 2018 and 2019, for making material misstatements on a license application, and for his “bad faith effort to avoid culpability.”
Khosah was licensed as a level one general insurance agent from April 2013 until August 2019 when his license lapsed for non-filing. He subsequently submitted a license application in October 2019 and became relicensed in November 2019. His license has been inactive since June 2020 due to not having authority to represent an agency.
Assault conviction
In April 2018 Khosah was convicted for assault and breach of undertaking or recognizance. August 2018 he was convicted again for breach of undertaking and for breaching his probation order. April 2019 he was convicted yet again, this time for assault, flight from police and for breach of undertaking or recognizance. He did not notify the insurance council of any of the convictions or the charges that preceded them within five business days, as required by council’s rules.
When he reapplied for his license in October 2019, he answered no to questions asking if he’d ever been charged or convicted of a crime. During the course of its investigation, Khosah told council that he answered no after receiving legal advice that “no charges have been put through,” but declined to provide any information about the identity of the lawyer who gave him the advice. He also said that he received legal advice advising him that he was not required to notify council, but again declined to identify his lawyer, citing confidentiality reasons.
In an interview with the insurance council, he further argued that the letter sent to council reporting him should be “stricken from the record” and declared invalid because his name was misspelled. He also claimed that he didn’t know that he’d been convicted of anything, despite having served jail time.
When asked if he’d ever reviewed the insurance council’s rules or code of conduct, he stated that he didn’t think it was a recommendation or requirement. “He compared it with being expected to be familiar with the entirety of the Criminal Code of Canada,” the insurance council writes in its intended decision.
Found licensee not credible
“Overall, based on statements made by the licensee to both council’s investigator and the committee, council found the licensee not to be credible. In particular, council did not consider the licensee’s submission that he had been unaware of his various convictions to be believable, especially considering that the licensee acknowledged that the Court Services Online sentencing information was accurate and even confirmed that he had served jail time,” they add. “Council considered the licensee’s argument that the complainant’s initial email to council (the investigation was initiated when the insurance brokerage group he was employed with became aware of one of his convictions) should be considered invalid due to a minor spelling error to have been a bad faith effort to avoid culpability.”
They further add that the only mitigating factor in the case was the fact that Khosah’s convictions were unrelated to insurance or other financial matters. “The aggravating factors identified were much more extensive and significant,” they continue. “Council’s opinion is that the licensee is not suitable to hold a license and that it is in the interests of public protection for his license to be cancelled for a significant period of time.”
In addition to the three-year cancellation of his license, Khosah must also pay a fine of $5,000, complete the Council Rules Course through the Insurance Brokers Association of British Columbia and complete the association’s Ethics for Insurance Brokers course prior to being licensed in the future.
