The Alberta Insurance Council is fining former life accident and sickness certificate holder, Sukhjinder Gill, $1,000 after Gill failed to respond to a demand for information about the currency of his errors and omissions (E&O) coverage.
In a decision handed down by the Alberta Insurance Councils’ Life Insurance Council, the regulator says the council conducted an E&O audit in February 2022, and suspended Gill’s certificates of authority the following April, after he failed or refused to provide proof of current E&O coverage.
Licensed since February 2017, Gill thus far has not provided a response to the demand or to the council’s subsequent report. In the decision, the council points out that there is nothing requiring it to prove that the agent’s failure to respond was intentional. “Council agreed that the agent was given a reasonable opportunity to respond to the demand,” they write. “The agent failed to respond when called upon.”
Because Gill failed to respond in any meaningful way, the council continues, saying a significant penalty is warranted to send a strong message, both to the agent and to all certificate holders. The maximum penalty allowed in the case is $1,000. “In consideration of all the evidence, the council orders that a penalty in the amount of $1,000 be levied against the agent,” they write.
