When Harsimran Kaur Dhillon was selected for an audit of her continuing education (CE) coursework for a three-year period, and was subsequently found to have completed only 10 out of 45 required credits, the Insurance Council of British Columbia says her full cooperation led the regulator to cut her sanction in half. Instead of $1,000 for each year she was short CE credits, the regulator only imposed a $1,500 sanction for all three years – $500 for each year in question.
Licensed since June 2015, Dhillon says during the periods covered by the audit she was dealing with health concerns and a personal matter. “When the deficiencies and shortfall of CE credits were brought to the licensee’s attention, the licensee completed an additional 50 CE credits on her own initiative,” the intended decision states.
Mitigating factors in the case include the fact that Dhillon fully accepted and acknowledged the breaches, accepted that remedial action was warranted and had completed all outstanding CE credits as required. “This, in the council’s view, demonstrates the licensee’s ability to self-correct. Additionally, the licensee fully cooperated with council’s investigation by providing prompt replies to council’s inquiries, acknowledging the misconduct and providing fulsome responses in a timely manner. Council did not identify any aggravating factors,” they write.
Due to these “significant” mitigating factors, they concluded that a lower penalty was warranted. In addition to the $1,500 fine, Dhillon must complete the Insurance Council Rules Course for Life and/or Accident & Sickness Insurance Agents and the Continuing Education Requirements & Guidelines course. The council did not order any investigation costs in the case.
