Broker suspended for a year after covering for his son in auto accident

A veteran B.C. broker had his broker licence suspended for one year after trying to protect his son by falsely claiming to police and the public auto insurer that he was the driver in his son’s hit-and-run accident.

In addition to the one-year suspension, Jasbir (Jesse) Singh Minhas, a licensed broker for more than 20 years, will have his licence downgraded to a Level 1 broker license for one year upon the reinstatement of his licence. He has held a Level 3 license — which allows a broker to maintain a supervisory or management position at a brokerage — since 2006 and was authorized to represent two unnamed brokerages as a Level 2 agent.

Insurance Council of B.C., the province’s broker regulator, heard from Insurance Corporation of B.C. (ICBC) in March 2021 that the broker’s son had been convicted of an offence for providing misinformation to law enforcement and ICBC, according to the council’s statement of facts in its intended order, released in March 2023.

“The incident involved a collision where the son was driving the [broker’s] vehicle,” the council’s statement of facts reads. “The son left the scene of the accident once the other party involved in the collision asked for his B.C. driver’s licence information.

“According to an investigation report from ICBC’s special investigation unit, the [broker] reported the accident to ICBC indicating that he was the driver and not the son and continued to insist that he had been the driver throughout the ICBC investigation.”

The regulator notes the broker was charged, but not convicted, for providing false and misleading information to law enforcement and ICBC throughout the claim. “However, he eventually admitted to council that he had falsely declared being the driver when the accident was reported because the son’s driver’s licence was suspended at the time of the loss,” the council notes in its statement of facts.

The broker’s son asked his father to state he was the driver because the son’s driver’s licence was suspended at the time of the accident, the council’s statement of facts reads. The broker later told council he did not know at the time of the accident that his son’s licence had been suspended.

The broker’s motive was “to protect the son,” the council noted, “and [he] did not consider the impact of the decision to misrepresent the driver.”

Asked why he didn’t report the incident to the council, Singh Minhas told the council he didn’t think he had to because he thought ICBC would notify the council about matters related to motor vehicle accidents. The broker “admitted that he overlooked the reporting requirements under the council rules,” the council observed in its decision.

The licence suspension also reflects the fact that council found the broker made 13 of his own car insurance transactions over two years through the Insurance Corporation of B.C.’s Autoplan system, which is a conflict of interest under the Insurance Council of B.C.’s code of ethics.

For his part, Singh Minhas said he didn’t know he wasn’t allowed to do this, and stopped when the council informed him this was against the code. “With respect to processing his own ICBC transactions, the [broker] explained that he overlooked that doing so was not allowed,” the council’s decision reads. “He informed [the council] that he did the transactions for convenience and that there were no other reasons.”

 

Feature image courtesy of iStock.com/simplehappyart