The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Scottish insurance broker Donald McKee Morgan, a partner of Donald Morgan Insurance Services (DMIS), GBP335,204 for committing insurance fraud.
Morgan has also been banned from performing any regulated financial services activity in the future.
The watchdog also publicly censured the broker’s wife, Janet Morgan, who was the only other partner at DMIS, and banned her from carrying out regulated financial services.
FSA said that Mrs Morgan took no active part in the affairs of the firm, and failed to notice her partner’s fraudulent activity.
The watchdog found that Donald Morgan deliberately kept insurance premium payments from a number of DMIS’s clients which should have been paid to a broker network.
In order to conceal his fraudulent conduct, Donald Morgan falsified monthly reports and manipulated the computer systems at DMIS and then used the premium monies to pay staff salaries and to fund his lifestyle.
In August 2010, Morgan informed the FSA of his misconduct and after that he realized he could not repay the money he had misappropriated.
The financial penalty consisted of a punitive element of GBP112,700 and GBP222,504 for disgorgement of financial benefit.
Day three of the U.S. Supreme Court’s hearings regarding the constitutionality of the nation’s new health care law, the Affordable Care Act, kicks off today. It’s the last day of arguments before the justices and if today’s comments mirror the previous two days’ statements, it should shed additional light on what the high court thinks of the law.
Up for consideration this afternoon will be the Obama administration’s decision to expand Medicaid coverage and mandate that states accept the requirements or lose Medicaid matching funds from the federal government. The expansion of Medicaid is a titular aspect of the new health policy and provides coverage for people under 65 years of age with individual or family incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. In response to the new requirements that would take effect in 2014, 25 states led by Florida have filed suit challenging the legality of the measure.
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The arguments today are likely to follow the line of questioning yesterday in which the court’s five judges most likely to vote down the law, expressed concern that the federal government was over reaching with a mandate to purchase health insurance.
The following exchange involved Chief Justice John Roberts and the Solicitor General Donald Verrilli regarding the law’s mandate that every citizen purchase health care:
CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: Well, the same, it seems to me, would be true say for the market in emergency services: police, fire, ambulance, roadside assistance, whatever. You don’t know when
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Pennsylvania based Custom Benefit Plans (CBP) has signed a partnership agreement with Ritter Insurance Marketing to distribute senior market insurance products through independent insurance agents.
The combination offers unique value not only to insurance companies seeking distribution, but also to independent insurance agents looking for training, marketing, sales and product support.
Ritter Insurance Marketing president Craig Ritter said the partnership with CBP enhances efficiency, reduces redundancy and improves compliance by allowing the local management to focus on agent training, education and local marketing.
“In addition, Custom Benefit Plans is expanding their footprint beyond the pre-65 aged market into the post-65/Medicare market place. We’re happy to help them in these efforts,” Ritter added.
Custom Benefit Plans president Sal Dinardo said a number of Ritter Insurance’s tools such as for lead management, product analysis tools and Part D drug cost estimators will help enrich the opportunity for its agent team.
“Ritter provides web-based ‘back office’ tools including agent commission payment systems, management of licensing paperwork, tracking of agent’s active appointments and in-house agent training/consulting services. All these systems reinforce our back office efforts and free up valuable staff time,” Dinardo added.
Custom Benefit Plans also provides its agents with product and compliance training, sales and marketing training, lead support, ongoing coaching and mentorship.
As historic as the Supreme Court hearing regarding the constitutionality of all or parts of the Affordable Care Act this week might be, there’s a narrow neck the justices must travel that could block any further deliberations or unleash the expected heated discussions.
That thin line is an 1867 federal law barring courts from ruling on measures until they are fully implemented by the federal government. The justices heard arguments today on just that issue given that the new health care law is not fully effective until 2014. Proponents of a decision to proceed with the hearings have said all along that since aspects of the law are already operable and impacting individuals, businesses, and state and local governments, the court is well within its rights to hear the case.
If the nine justices decide they can move forward with hearings, the crux of the matter will be whether the federal government can compel anyone to purchase a product – in this case, health insurance. U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, who will argue the case for the Obama administration, said today the 1867 law did not apply because Congress was imposing a penalty, not a tax.
The designation one attaches to the Affordable Care Act is key. Department of Health and Human Services staff members have referred to the law as both a tax and a penalty depending on the Congressional hearing. They have backed away from the tax nomenclature when the Obama administration has highlighted its record of no tax increases. On
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Marriage no longer offers people many additional financial benefits that differ from those available to people who co-habit, it has been explained.
In a BBC Womans Hour podcast, director of research and family policy at the Family and Parenting Institute Peter Grieg explained how there is “little that distinguishes” between the two relationship situations.
When it comes to the government tax and benefits system, both marriage and co-habiting are viewed as very similar.
However, those who are looking to invest in cheap wedding insurance ahead of their big day may be pleased to hear tying the knot can have financial benefits elsewhere.
“Economies of scale mean you dont have to pay twice for electricity bills and fuel and of course who can put a price on the happiness of being married in the first place?” Mr Grieg remarked.
Compared with the 20th century, living as a couple before marriage is commonplace in many western nations and is no longer deemed controversial by many cultures.
Personable Holdings, a provider of non-standard auto insurance has acquired Network Holding, the parent company of First Insurance Network and Peachtree Casualty Insurance Company.
First Insurance Network is a managing general insurance agency and Peachtree Casualty Insurance Company is a P&C insurance company licensed to write private passenger automobile insurance in 38 states.
The transaction has been approved by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
The acquisition expands Personable’s geographic footprint into Florida and Georgia states in the US and will bring 18,000 policyholders to the company and will add 400 new independent agent partners.
Personable chairman Kieran Sweeney said that the company is well positioned to execute its long-term growth strategy following this acquisition.
“Personable now has a strategic presence in four of the five largest states for non-standard auto insurance in the US, over 45,000 customers and 3,000 quality retail partnerships,” Sweeney said.