IFA fined and banned for insurance fraud

best insurance companies - IFA fined and banned for insurance fraud  : The FSA has fined IFA John Folan £70,000, ordered him to repay £125,117 in commission, and banned him from carrying out regulated financial services after he falsified insurance applications allegedly for his own profit.

According to the FSA, Mr Folan was the sole director and adviser for Key Mortgage Associates, a small mortgage and insurance intermediary in Brentwood, Essex.

The FSA statement said between January 2008 and September 2009, Mr Folan submitted more than 54 applications for life assurance and protection policies in his name, his wife’s name and the names of family members without their knowledge.

He submitted these applications to get commission payments from product providers.

He was paid £125,117 in commission in relation to 50 regulated insurance policies that were in placed as a result submitting multiple fictitious applications.

The FSA said product providers have tried to claw back commission in relation to these policies, but Mr Folan was unable to repay the debt.

In each case Mr Folan provided his own bank account details so direct debit payments could be taken by the insurance providers, and in three of the applications he falsified signatures of family members.

He used his own address so the people whose names he used would not become suspicious. When documentation was occasionally sent to family members, he said he was submitting sample policies.

Mr Folan aimed to keep up with the premiums, but when his money began to run out he took out further policies to secure more commission to cover the outstanding payments.

This process made the providers suspicious and they contacted the FSA and the regulator issued him with a final notice on 30 September 2011 for insurance fraud.

Mr Folan agreed to settle the matter under the FSA's executive settlement process and the fine was reduced by 30 per cent, otherwise it would have been £100,000.

Mr Folan destroyed policy documents as soon as he received them so there was no audit trail of his wrongdoing.

Tom Spender, head of retail enforcement for the FSA, said: “This is a significant fine to reflect significant failings. Mr Folan took advantage of his position as an FSA-approved individual for his own personal gain, and at the same time took advantage of his close family. The FSA concluded that he lacks honesty and integrity.

Mr Folan's actions tarnish the industry’s reputation and that is why we continue to pursue these cases and publish the findings. Anybody working in the industry who is tempted to commit any type of insurance fraud should note the consequences of their actions.”

Bharti, Reliance end talks on insurance JVs deal

best insurance companies - Bharti, Reliance end talks on insurance JVs deal : Reliance Industries has mutually agreed to end negotiations with Bharti Enterprises to buy its stakes in two insurance joint ventures with France's AXA, the two Indian companies said on Friday.

Reliance said the negotiations to acquire Bharti's 74 percent stakes in the life insurance and general insurance joint ventures were terminated as it was "unable to reach agreement on the long-term vision and joint governance of the ventures" with AXA.

Reliance, India's largest-listed company, had said in June that it would buy out Bharti's stakes, as it sought to build on moves beyond its core energy business.

The parties had not disclosed financial details of the transaction.

Reliance had planned to own, along with associate Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Ltd, 57 percent and 17 percent, respectively, in each insurance venture, it had said in June.

With growth in its core energy business below expectations over the past year, Reliance has been keen to diversify and has ventured into areas such as telecoms and financial services, as well as tried to build up its presence in retail.

Bharti Enterprises, which controls leading Indian telecoms firm Bharti Airtel, had set up the ventures -- Bharti AXA Life Insurance and Bharti AXA General Insurance -- with AXA, Europe's second biggest insurer, in 2006.

It had earlier said the business did not fit in with its long-term plans, but on Friday said the two joint ventures will continue to develop their operations in India.

Bharti's telecoms unit has been weighed down by its $9 billion acquisition of the African mobile operations of Kuwait's Zain last year and huge costs of launching its 3G network in India.

An AXA spokesman in Paris declined to comment.

Ahead of the announcement, Reliance shares ended down 2.5 percent in a weak Mumbai market. Bharti Airtel shares closed 0.9 percent lower.

Health insurance scheme, Malaysia plan back on table

best insurance companies - Health insurance scheme, Malaysia plan back on table : LABOR will use its new increased majority in the House of Representatives to try to push through stalled policies including means-testing for the private health insurance rebate and the Malaysia plan for asylum seekers.

Labor MPs who have been fretting about the poker machine reforms that Andrew Wilkie has been demanding say they plan to start speaking out for those reforms to be moderated, given Mr Wilkie no longer has the power to bring down the government.

One MP, who did not want to be named, said MPs would call for changes such as insisting on a trial before pressing ahead with mandatory pre-commitment.

'We can't just drop the policy but we'll be pushing for a trial first,'' the MP said. ''This changes the whole dynamic. It's good to have a bit of stability.''

Mr Wilkie has been assured by the Prime Minister that Labor will try to honour its commitment to place mandatory pre-commitment technology on poker machines.

The minority government has 76 votes to 73 on the floor of the House after Harry Jenkins resigned as speaker and went to the backbench, giving Labor an extra vote. The Coalition lost a vote when Peter Slipper replaced Mr Jenkins.

This means Labor now needs the support of three of the six crossbenchers instead of four to pass a bill. The 76 votes gives Labor an absolute majority and much greater powers to control events in the House.

As the opposition railed against the ambush as a grubby deal, recriminations inside the party began, with enemies of Mr Slipper saying he should have been disendorsed years ago.

The federal Liberal National MP Alex Somlyay said the LNP executive, which had been debating this week whether to expel Mr Slipper or fast-track his preselection defeat, should have moved long ago.

''People like me and many other branch members have been warning the party this was going to happen … that something should have been done years ago,'' he said. ''It has all come to a head now, and we'll have to live with the consequences for the next two years.''

It needs now just one vote to means-test the private health insurance rebate, which is worth $2.9 billion to the budget.

It has the numbers to pass through the lower house the legislation for the Malaysia plan in a bid to increase the pressure on the Coalition to back down and allow it through the Senate.

The manager of government business, Anthony Albanese, who lined up Mr Slipper on Thursday morning after Mr Jenkins resigned, denied yesterday that he had advance knowledge of Mr Jenkins's decision. It emerged that Mr Jenkins had consulted Simon Crean on Wednesday and then contacted Government House to arrange his resignation.