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Annual Filing

Annual filing for all licensees opens April 1, 2021. The deadline to complete your annual filing is June 1, 2021.

Filing is done through the Insurance Council's Online Portal and consists of:

  1. Completing the Filing Declaration; 
  2. Remitting the Annual Filing Fee.

 

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About Annual Filing


Who Needs to Complete Annual Filing?

All insurance licensees must submit an annual filing declaration and filing fee for each licence held, whether their licence status is active, inactive, or suspended. The filing deadlines and fees are the same for all licensees, regardless of the class of licence held. All licensees must submit a declaration, regardless of who pays the annual filing fee. 

Nominees are reminded that an annual filing and filing fee is  required for each corporate licence, in addition to their own individual licence.


How Much Is The Annual Filing Fee?

Received by June 1, 2021: $225  (includes Government Fee)
*Received by August 3, 2021: $425  (includes Government Fee and $200 late fee)


*Licensees who have not submitted their filing(s) by August 3, 2021 will have their licence(s) automatically terminated.

It is the responsibility of the individual licensee to ensure that the filing fee is received by the Insurance Council, even if their agency is submitting the payment on their behalf


How Do I Submit My Annual Filing?

All filing declarations and payments must be done via the online portal. The Insurance Council has discontinued the paper filing form.  Furthermore, due to COVID-19 the Insurance Council's office is closed to the public and payment cannot be accepted in-person.

  • Sign into Council's online portal. 

  • Complete a filing declaration and pay your annual filing fee with Visa, Mastercard, or Interac Online debit. (If your agency is submitting your fee, follow-up with your agency to confirm that the fee has been paid).

Detailed instructions for individual filings and bulk filings are available. More information and an FAQ for the Online Portal can be found here, and you can watch an overview video on the annual filing process below:
 

 

What is a filing declaration?

Depending on the type and class of licence held with the Insurance Council, licensees will be asked to confirm a number of statements related to their licence requirements. No supporting documentation needs to be submitted at the time that the declaration is made, but licensees should maintain proper records in case they are audited by the Insurance Council.


Have Questions?

See our frequently asked questions are below or contact our filing support team at filing@insurancecouncilofbc.com or by calling 604-688-0321 or 1-877-688-0321 (toll-free within Canada) and dialing extension 7. 

 

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Frequently Asked Questions

Annual Filing 101

Do I Need to File?

Online Portal

(redirects to Online Portal page)

Payments

Continuing Education

Late Filing

Annual Filing 101

My agency/firm pays my filing fee. What do I need to do?

Each licensee is responsible for completing their filing declaration via the online portal, and can then select the option that they have an agreement with their agency/firm that the agency/firm will submit the filing fee on their behalf. Please confirm this with your agency/firm before selecting this option.

It is the responsibility of the individual licensee to ensure that the filing fee is paid and received by the Insurance Council, even if the licensee's agency/firm is submitting the payment on their behalf.

I have a life licence and a general licence. Do I need to submit a filing for both?

If you hold more than one licence with the Insurance Council, you are required to submit a filing declaration and an annual filing fee for both.

I have a licensed corporation/partnership. What do I need to do?

It is the nominee's responsibility to submit an annual filing and filing fee for the corporation. If the corporation is licensed for general and life insurance, two annual filings and two annual filing fees are required. The nominee is also required to submit an annual filing and filing fee for each of their own individual licence(s).

What happens if I don't submit an annual filing?

Where a licensee has not met the filing requirements by August 3, 2021, the licence will be automatically terminated for non-filing. If your licence is terminated for non-filing, you are not permitted to conduct insurance business in British Columbia until Council has approved your licence application.

For more information about reinstating an insurance licence, please review the Reactivation Provision.

Continuing Education

Do I need to complete my continuing education before I submit my annual filing?

You must complete your continuing education credits by May 31, 2021. The declaration requires you to confirm that you have completed your continuing education or will complete by May 31, 2021, so you can submit your annual filing before you have completed your continuing education but you are responsible for ensuring that your credits are complete by May 31, 2021.

For more information about continuing education, please reach out to our Practice and Quality Assurance team at practice@insurancecouncilofbc.com. 

If I submit a late filing, does that allow me additional time to complete my continuing education?

No. Continuing education must be completed by May 31, 2021.

Do I Need to File?

I'm not conducting insurance business right now and my licence is inactive. Do I need to submit a filing?

Yes. An annual filing fee is required for all licences, regardless of active, inactive or suspended status.

My licence was issued between March 1 and May 31, 2021, do I need to submit an annual filing this year?

No. Licences issued between March 1 and May 31, 2021 have a first filing date of June 1, 2022.

Payment

I am an agency/firm and I want to pay the filing fees on behalf of licensees who are authorized to represent my agency/firm. How can I do that?

Agencies/firms will need to ask their licensees to sign into the online portal and submit their filing declaration through their individual portal account. When the agency/firm logs into their online portal account, they can then submit payment for all of the licensees whose status shows in the list as "Pay Fees Due for Renewal" via Visa, Mastercard, Interac Online debit, prepaid account or electronic fund transfer. Click here to access instructions on how an agency/firm can use the portal.

How do I pay by EFT?

After you have added a minimum of five filing fees to your payment items, the Pay by Electronic Funds Transfer button will appear. The system will send generate an invoice for the filing fees in the payment items. 

The EFT payment submitted must be the exact same amount as the invoiced amount. After you have submitted the EFT payment, please select Verify Electronic Funds Payment from the portal main menu and enter the date that the payment was submitted for the corresponding invoice. 

How do I set up and use a prepaid account?

Prepaid accounts are a new option launched in 2021 for filing fees only. After the conclusion of the late filing period, the Insurance Council will return any unused funds in the prepaid account.
To set up a prepaid account:

  1. Send an email to accounting@insurancecouncilofbc.com and include:
    • The agency or firm's legal name
    • Corporate licence number
    • Your contact information
  2. The Insurance Council's finance team will email you a form to fill out. Complete and return the form.
  3. Within three business days, the Insurance Council's finance team will confirm via email that the prepaid account is set-up.
  4. Add funds to the prepaid account via credit card through the online portal or by making arrangements with the Insurance Council's finance team if you would prefer to use EFT or corporate cheque.
To use funds in a prepaid account, add the filing fees to the payment items and then select Pay with Prepaid Account. You can access the transaction history (including deposits, payments and all receipts) by selecting Manage Prepaid Accounts from the portal main menu and then clicking on the Account ID.

Late Filing

I hold an active insurance licence and I missed the June 1 filing deadline and will be submitting a late filing. Can I still conduct insurance business?

Yes, your insurance licence remains valid until August 3, 2021. If we have not received your annual filing by the end of the day on August 3, 2021, your licence will be automatically terminated.