The Insurance Council of British Columbia (ICoBC) has taken the unusual step of reprimanding one of its licensees, without imposing any further sanctions, after the licensee failed to notify the ICoBC that she’d been charged and convicted of a crime.
According to the council’s order, Kelsie Dawn Lang has held an active, level 1 general salesperson license since March 2017. Prior to that she worked in the Alberta insurance industry for two years. After being charged and convicted for committing theft of $5,000 or under, the ICoBC says Lang failed to notify the council about either the charge or her conviction, contrary to council rules which require licensees to notify council within five business days if they are charged or convicted of any criminal offence.
During the course of the ICoBC’s investigation, Lang admitted that she had not read the council’s rules when she applied for her license, did not know she was required to report the charge and conviction, and decided not to report after she knew about the obligation, “because several months had already passed since her conviction, she was embarrassed and ashamed by the matter, and wished to put it behind her.”
“In determining a disposition in this matter, council found the fact that the licensee’s employing agency continues to employ her to be highly indicative of the agency’s support for and trust of the licensee,” they write. “Council also took into consideration the conditional discharge, probation, community service, victim surcharge and counseling that had already been imposed on the licensee by the court.”
