Insurance Producer Fiduciary Responsibility

Each individual or agency insurance producer has fiduciary responsibility for all premiums and related insurance proceeds received on behalf of insurers.

Insurance producer fiduciary responsibility. Agents who make recommendations to clients have an obligation to be knowledgeable about the features and provisions of the products they. Funds must be remitted to the appropriate insurer or consumer in a timely manner. The most important distinction between an agent and a broker is that insurance agents work for the insurance. What it means to agents.

Insurance agents can either be captive agents meaning the company they represent prohibits them from selling insurance from any other company or independent agents who represent more than one company and are therefore able to sell insurance from multiple carriers. Washington producers fiduciary responsibilities for trust accounts mar. A fiduciary is a person in a position of financial trust. Example of breach of fiduciary duty case.

Agents should review their handling of fiduciary accounts and funds to prepare. A producer must handle funds of a client or insurance company honestly and fairly and not use them for the producer s own purposes. A standard of care is established between these two parties that must be maintained regardless of personal interests. It must be noted however that the antifraud task force is focused on eliminating premium diversion and other instances of fraud perpetrated by a few bad apple agents.

Pia and other industry representatives will continue to work with the naic to improve the model s language. An insurance producer may not producers fiduciary responsibilities. Attorneys accountants trust officers pension plan trustees stockbrokers and insurance agents are all considered fiduciaries. An insurance producer licensee or surplus line producer convicted of knowingly misappropriating or knowingly converting to his or her own use or wrongfully withholding fiduciary moneys in the amount of one hundred fifty dollars 150 00 or less is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars 1 000 00 or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to exceed one year or by both such fine and imprisonment.

If the agent is negligent in his or her actions toward a customer whether a valid insurance claim. From virginia one example of a breach in fiduciary duty case is 2007 banks v mario indus 274 va. An insurance agent may be liable to an insurance company for negligence or a breach of contract that causes loss or damage to the company. Insurance agents and brokers may owe a fiduciary duty to both to the companies they represent and to the insurance buying public.

438 650 s e 2d 687 in this case the defendant was. This is called this is called fiduciary responsibility. In particular the agent owes the insurer loyalty fairness and honesty and a duty to act in good faith and to keep the insurer informed of material matters that relate to the insurance or to the agency company relationship. Fiduciary responsibility to the client.

A fiduciary duty between an insurance agent and a customer is a relationship based on trust and good faith and requires that the agent acts in the best interest of the customer. The law prohibits misappropriation or theft of insurance funds collected from or owed to a consumer.