Rule Amendment Consultation

Rule 5 Council Fees (1) (a), (b), and (o)

Amendment of Rule 5 (1)(a) and (b)
Creation of Rule 5 (1)(o) 

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Overview

In March 2023, the Insurance Council approved consultation for proposed amendments to Rule 5 Council Fees (1)(a), (b), and the creation of Rule 5 (1)(o). The proposed amendments would allow:

• An amendment of Rule 5 (1)(a) to increase the maximum allowable fee for licence application fees. 
• An amendment of Rule 5(1)(b) to increase the maximum allowable annual licence fee. 
• The creation of Rule 5(1)(o) to permit a fee to be charged for licence upgrades within the same licence class.

Background

The Insurance Council of BC (Insurance Council) is granted the ability to set and collect fees by Section 225.1 (2)(j) of the Financial Institutions Act (FIA). Council Rule 5 governs the fees the Insurance Council is permitted to collect and the maximum threshold for how much can be charged. Actual fees are established through Council motion. Insurance Council activities are wholly funded through the fees it collects from industry and regularly evaluates the fee structure to ensure they support sustainable funding to effectively regulate insurance representatives in BC, with the goal of ensuring public protection. 

Rule Amendment Process

Proposed amendments to the Insurance Council Rules are subject to public consultation as outlined in the Financial Institutions Act. Reviewing the proposed amendments to Rule 5 (1) (a), (b), and (o) will follow the same process as outlined in the Council Rules Review project. Following a minimum 60-day consultation period, feedback will be provided to voting members of Council. If voting members of Council approve to proceed with submitting the proposed amendments after reviewing the consultation information, a package that includes the proposed amendments and the consultation information will be sent to the Minister of Finance for consideration. Submissions that include verifiable contact information (name, email, business) will be included in the package sent to the ministry for consideration.
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Summary of proposed amendments

Rule 5(1)(a) and (b)

What are the proposed amendments?

Amendments to Rule 5 (1)(a) would increase the upper limit for application fees for individual licences from $275 to $425, and for an agency/firm licence from $800 to $1000.

Amendments to Rule 5 (1)(b) would increase the upper limit that could be charged for an annual individual licence fee from $260 to $400, and for an agency/firm from $500 to $700. 

What is the rationale?

Licensing and oversight activities provided by the Insurance Council are funded by fees collected from industry. The Insurance Council regularly reviews its fees to ensure the work to protect consumers and the public interest continues to be sustainably funded. The proposed amendment would allow the Insurance Council to manage changes to fees over time through incremental increases.

Rule 5(1)(o)

What is the proposed amendment?

The creation of Rule 5 (1)(o) would permit a fee to be applied to licence upgrades.

What is the rationale?

Currently the Insurance Council does not have a fee system in place that accounts for changes to an individual's licence. Processing a licence upgrade is similar to processing a licence application, which requires time and administrative resources from Insurance Council staff. The proposed change would allow the Insurance Council to recoup the cost of processing licence changes. 

Contact us

For questions about the proposed Rule changes or stakeholder engagement please contact us at: rules.consult@insurancecouncilofbc.com