Legal Practice relating to Insurance Agents' Misconduct
Course Description
Course Valid period: 60 days after success payment
The insurance market in Hong Kong offers diversified products to customers, attracting both local and Mainland clients to invest heavily in insurance products. The robust insurance market inevitably raise the demand for legal services in relation to:
- protecting insurance market players’ legal right during regulatory inspection and dawn raids.
- With or without warrant, the Insurance Authority(“IA”) is empowered to carry out investigations of a contravention of the Insurance Ordinance against an insurance intermediary or the insurance company as principal.
- assisting individual insurance intermediary (agent/broker) to fight against disciplinary claims
- Failure in compliance with the conduct requirements under the Insurance Ordinance does not itself render the intermediary liable to judicial proceedings, but the intermediary’s licence may be revoked if the Insurance Authority considers he/she is no longer fit and proper to remain licensed.
- handling breach of contract claims raised by or against insurance companies or intermediaries
- The misconduct of an insurance intermediary is likely deemed a breach of contract with his/her principal, the intermediary may be dismissed and sued for any loss caused to the principal.
To assist handling the above issues, this course lists out the common misconducts intermediaries commonly committed and the popular complaints filed by clients. Taking these misconducts and complaints as examples, you will understand the corresponding regulatory requirements, and how to establish or defend the case.
Course Outline
Content of this course:
1. The full procedures of receiving misconduct complaints by the IA, and how IA opens inspection files, performs investigations, and how IA hears the cases and adjudicates disciplinary sanctions.
2. By referring to a number of real cases, the misconducts commonly committed by intermediaries, and respective legal defence:
- Assist clients in processing premium payments
- Participate in street sale events
- Explain insurance policies, especially the complexities and risks involved in premium financing
- Lobby clients to switch insurance policies
3. The criminal elements of misleading from the perspective of law and court cases, and shares the defensible grounds to enable intermediaries building better defence of misleading.
4. The regulatory requirement of self-reporting
