B.C. Insurance Council raises license fees, changes reporting requirements

The Insurance Council of British Columbia, which licenses the provinces insurance brokers and sales agents, is increasing its application fees for a first licence, licence renewal and licence reapplication to $125, effective June 1, 2007.
Fees for transfer, reinstatement and amendment applications will not change.
A number of factors have contributed to the application fee increase, the Council notes in an online posting. Council has not increased fees since 1999 and, while Council continues to look at ways to keep costs down, revenue has not kept pace with expenditures.
The increase in application fees is projected to generate sufficient revenue to enable Council to meet its annual operating costs and to allow it to establish a minimum operating surplus, thus ensuring Council can continue to meet its obligations.
As a result of the increase to the licence application fee, the annual insurer assessment will also increase. In accordance with Section 3 of the Insurance Council Regulation, which sets the insurer assessment at 10 times the application fee, effective June 1, 2007, the annual insurer assessment will increase from $900 to $1,000.
The Council is also instituting a number of changes to its mandatory reporting requirements. For example, licensees must notify Council within specific time frames where certain events occur.
Previously, many of these notifications were only required at time of licence renewal, Council noted in a posting on its Web site.
The Council lists online some of the key notification requirements, adding that this is not a complete list.
Licensees must notify the Council within five days of any discipline decision, court judgment or criminal conviction pertaining to the licensee and/or any business the licensee owns
Licensees must notify the Council within five days of any name change.
Licensees must notify the Council within 30 days of any address change (including any address change of the licensees business address).