Following a recent decision, the General Insurance Council of Manitoba has fined Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc. designated representative, Jacqueline Desrochers $5,000 for failing to ensure that adjusters in another province were properly supervised.

The investigation conducted by the insurance council found that Desrochers failed to inform appointed level 4 adjusters of their responsibility to provide on-site supervision. During the course of the investigation, she was also unable to provide documentation that she notified council when on-site supervising adjusters were changed. The firm’s counsel stated that it was not the designated representative’s intention to mislead – they attributed the inaccurate attestations made to council to her inexperience in completing the forms in question.

In the decision, the council discusses the circumstances where a Hamilton, Ontario adjuster adjudicated Manitoba claims without being licensed in that province. Other adjusters did not hold the appropriate level of license to provide on-site supervision or were also not licensed in Manitoba. Where certain adjusters were required to provide supervision, they were not made aware of that requirement.

“Ms. Desrochers attributes the circumstances of this complaint to her own misapprehension of the applicable rules but also in not having received adequate training on her compliance responsibilities as a level 5 representative,” the decision states. It also adds that she has been the firm’s designated representative at various points between 2001 and the present. “She knew, or ought to have known and been accustomed to the regulatory requirements (of) managing the firm,” they write.

“Based on the information and the evidence reviewed, council concluded that there was a systemic lack of due diligence and appropriate organizational procedures pertaining to licensure of all adjusters, supervision and oversight provided by the firm and as such, the licensee in her capacity as the designated representative violated sections (of Manitoba’s Insurance Act).” 

In addition to the fine of $5,000, Desrochers was also assessed partial investigation costs of $5,000.