B.C. Insurance Council fines Roadways Insurance Agencies $20,000

The Insurance Council of British Columbia has issued an order fining an insurance agency $20,000 for findings of misconduct occurring under two different owners over the course of three years.
An investigative review committee (IRC) found that over the course of three years, the agency allowed the following to occur:
• the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia’s (ICBC) extranet database was improperly accessed at the agency on two occasions;
• an illegitimate transfer in ownership of a vehicle was processed at the agency;
• ICBC premium payments made by clients were mishandled at the agency; and
• the agency had insufficient errors and omissions insurance coverage.
Ewen Ruth Fang owned the agency in 2009, then operating under the name of Roswell Insurance Agency. In January 2010, Fang sold the business to two individuals, one of which was Jaswinder Singh Gill.
The council’s order notes that under Fang’s ownership, the council suspended one of her employees for misconduct that occurred at a previous job. The council notified Fang and Yik Lun Hui, the employee’s direct supervisor, about the misconduct. The council advised Fang and Hui to ensure the employee remained under constant supervision. Neither Fang nor Hui expressed concern about the allegations of misconduct, the council decision said.
Shortly thereafter, a council investigation found that while under Hui’s supervision, the employee arranged ICBC premium financing for six clients, with the payments being withdrawn from his personal account.
A council audit later found the firm had $1 million in errors and omissions limits, half of the required amount under council rules.
Once Fang sold the firm to Gill and his business partner, the business name changed to Roadways Insurance Agencies Inc. Hui continued to work at the firm.
Shortly thereafter, Gill admitted to accessing the ICBC extranet database to give the address of an insured to a client wanting to place a lien on the vehicle associated with the plate, thereby breaching the plate owner’s privacy, the council’s order says.
According to the council, Hui also helped a client avoid paying a debt owed to ICBC by processing a transfer of ownership on the client’s vehicle from the client’s name into the name of another person, without that person’s knowledge or consent, with the client forging the signature of the person on the document. Within six months, Hui allowed four insurance renewal transactions to be processed on the same vehicle with the person’s signature forged by the client each time, the order says.
Council suspended the license of Hui and Roadway Insurance Agencies in March 2011, pending the outcome of its investigation. A condition for reinstating the license of Roadways was to replace Hui with a different nominee.
The council’s May 2011 order notes the firm is in the midst of severing its ties with Gill, and is in the process of “finding a different and capable nominee” [replacing Hui].
“Council also accepted that the other agency owner, who intends to remain with the agency, appears to have a legitimate intent to rectify the past problems and to implement proper procedures to ensure that similar issues do not arise in future,” the order says.
“Notwithstanding, council determined that the agency should not be completely absolved of its responsibility in these matters, and that because the problems were of an egregious nature, they should not be tolerated and the agency should be penalized significantly.”
In its order, the council fined the agency $20,000, plus $2,475 to cover the costs of the council’s investigation.