​This summary does not constitute a legal opinion. The information it contains may not reflect the current state of the law.

​An insured filed a complaint with the syndic’s office against her damage insurance representative. It appeared that he had sent her banking information to a new automobile insurer without her consent.

The Facts of the Case
The ethical investigation revealed the following facts:

​The insured had an automobile insurance contract in force with Insurer A, which was going to expire in December 2005. With the renewal date approaching, the representative decided to transfer the insurance contract to Insurer B.

Since the insured paid her premium monthly to Insurer A by pre-authorized debit, the representative forwarded the insured’s banking information to Insurer B so that this new insurer could begin debiting her account for the monthly premium. Although no gap in insurance coverage occurred, the representative failed to notify the insured of this change of insurer and did not obtain her consent to disclose her banking information for purposes other than those for which she had authorized its disclosure, in other words for direct debit by Insurer A.