{"id":28327,"date":"2023-09-11T16:14:47","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T20:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rsslex.com\/?p=28327"},"modified":"2025-03-04T10:32:39","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T15:32:39","slug":"a-recent-judgment-by-the-superior-court-on-the-professional-liability-of-insurance-brokers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rsslex.com\/en\/bulletins-en\/insurance-law-en\/a-recent-judgment-by-the-superior-court-on-the-professional-liability-of-insurance-brokers\/","title":{"rendered":"A Recent Superior Court Judgment on the Professional Liability of Insurance Brokers"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the recent matter of Jolicoeur<\/em> vs. Rivard Assurances g\u00e9n\u00e9rales inc<\/em>., 2023 QCCS 1685<\/a>, the Superior Court analyzed the professional liability of an insurance broker and his brokerage firm, to determine whether they should indemnify plaintiffs for a penalty of $171,463.08 applied by the insurer due to the increased risk of fire discovered following a fire.<\/p>\n

The facts are quite simple. On May 30, 2018, plaintiffs met with defendant broker, Katy Savard, at the brokerage firm Rivard Assurances g\u00e9n\u00e9rales inc. to take out an insurance policy for their duplex and another property. During this meeting, Ms. Savard fills out an online form that contains a list of questions for the insurer, L\u2019Unique, Assurances g\u00e9n\u00e9rales. One of the questions relates to the distance between the duplex and the nearest fire station. The system offers a choice of two answers, namely if the building is located at more than 8 kilometers from the fire station or at less than 8 kilometers from the fire station. The evidence at trial shows that plaintiffs respond verbally to the question by indicating \u201capproximately 30 minutes\u201d, without mentioning the actual distance. In the online form, the answer \u201cless than 8 kilometers from the fire station\u201d is selected.<\/p>\n

On July 31, 2019, a fire occurs and completely destroys the duplex. After noticing that the building is located at more than 8 kilometers from the station rather than the contrary, L\u2019Unique, the insurer, applies a 44% penalty to the insurance indemnity paid, representing an amount of $171,463.08 that plaintiffs are now claiming from the brokerage firm and broker Savard, alleging professional misconduct by the latter.<\/p>\n

At trial, defendants argue that it was plaintiffs\u2019 obligation to make sure the information being communicated was accurate and that the declarations contained in the policy were in accordance with the facts declared. The Court did not retain their arguments, being of the opinion that minimal verifications could have been done by Ms. Savard, namely by using Google Maps to validate the distance between the duplex and the fire station, based on the travel time indicated by plaintiffs. The Court reiterates that an insurance broker must use his judgment and look for any relevant information before recommending insurance coverage to his clients, especially if they are not known to the broker. Justice Dufresne therefore concludes that Ms. Savard is liable for the erroneous answer given to the insurer L\u2019Unique, stating that she was negligent in selecting the option \u201cless than 8 kilometers from the fire station.\u201d The Court therefore condemns the brokerage firm and its broker, solidarily, to pay $171,463.08 to plaintiffs.<\/p>\n

This judgment is an important reminder that the obligation of the insured to declare to the insurer the circumstances relevant to the risk assessment has limits. An insurance broker cannot hide behind vague or incomplete information given by his client without making the necessary verifications, otherwise his professional liability may be triggered.<\/p>\n

Patricia Baram is pa<\/span>rt of our Professional Liability Team with, amongst others, Marika Douville<\/a> and Laurence Gauthier<\/span>, partners at the firm.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the recent matter of Jolicoeur vs. Rivard Assurances g\u00e9n\u00e9rales inc., 2023 QCCS 1685, the Superior Court analyzed the professional liability of an insurance broker and his brokerage firm, to determine whether they should indemnify plaintiffs for a penalty of $171,463.08 applied by the insurer due to the increased risk of fire discovered following a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[242],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insurance-law-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Recent Superior Court Judgment on the Professional Liability of Insurance Brokers - RSS - Robinson Sheppard Shapiro<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rsslex.com\/en\/bulletins-en\/insurance-law-en\/a-recent-judgment-by-the-superior-court-on-the-professional-liability-of-insurance-brokers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Recent Superior Court Judgment on the Professional Liability of Insurance Brokers - RSS - Robinson Sheppard Shapiro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the recent matter of Jolicoeur vs. Rivard Assurances g\u00e9n\u00e9rales inc., 2023 QCCS 1685, the Superior Court analyzed the professional liability of an insurance broker and his brokerage firm, to determine whether they should indemnify plaintiffs for a penalty of $171,463.08 applied by the insurer due to the increased risk of fire discovered following a […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rsslex.com\/en\/bulletins-en\/insurance-law-en\/a-recent-judgment-by-the-superior-court-on-the-professional-liability-of-insurance-brokers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RSS - Robinson Sheppard Shapiro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rsslex\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-11T20:14:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-04T15:32:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rsslex.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Placeholder-News.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"V\u00e9ronique Nollet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"V\u00e9ronique Nollet\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rsslex.com\\\/en\\\/bulletins-en\\\/insurance-law-en\\\/a-recent-judgment-by-the-superior-court-on-the-professional-liability-of-insurance-brokers\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rsslex.com\\\/en\\\/bulletins-en\\\/insurance-law-en\\\/a-recent-judgment-by-the-superior-court-on-the-professional-liability-of-insurance-brokers\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"V\u00e9ronique Nollet\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rsslex.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0d1c0fa6dcd13392d3db5c5246c97d9d\"},\"headline\":\"A Recent Superior Court Judgment on the Professional Liability of Insurance Brokers\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-11T20:14:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-04T15:32:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rsslex.com\\\/en\\\/bulletins-en\\\/insurance-law-en\\\/a-recent-judgment-by-the-superior-court-on-the-professional-liability-of-insurance-brokers\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":507,\"articleSection\":[\"Insurance Law\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rsslex.com\\\/en\\\/bulletins-en\\\/insurance-law-en\\\/a-recent-judgment-by-the-superior-court-on-the-professional-liability-of-insurance-brokers\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rsslex.com\\\/en\\\/bulletins-en\\\/insurance-law-en\\\/a-recent-judgment-by-the-superior-court-on-the-professional-liability-of-insurance-brokers\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Recent Superior Court Judgment on the Professional Liability of Insurance Brokers - 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