Unlicensed agency employee charged with fraud in Calif.
A licensed agent also faces charges for actions that put clients' coverage and information at risk.
Even for a risk-averse industry, insurance is not without the bad actors who cheat the system and tarnish the reputation of trusted insurance advisors.
A recent case in California shines a spotlight on the importance for consumers to always check the license status of their agent.
Edith “Emely” Arellano-Quinones, 39, and Brenda Cervantes, 31, were recently arraigned on misdemeanor counts of insurance fraud after allegedly selling auto insurance without proper licensing and putting their customers’ coverage and information at risk.
An investigation by the California Department of Insurance (DOI) found that Arellano-Quinones was operating a branch of Victoria’s Auto Insurance Services in Oxnard, Calif., without being properly licensed as an insurance agent. The probe included undercover visits at the branch and interviews with employees and customers.
Arellano-Quinones was previously licensed but surrendered her license in 2008, according to the DOI.
Cervantes, a licensed agent, allegedly allowed Arellano-Quinones and other unlicensed employees to use her login credentials from various insurance companies to obtain coverage quotes for customers. Despite being unlicensed, Arellano-Quinones knowingly provided insurance advice and recommendations, allegedly at the direction of Cervantes. The consequences of Cervantes and Arellano-Quinones’s actions include putting consumers at financial risk and potentially invalidated their purchased insurance coverage, says the DOI.
Both have pleaded not guilty and will return to court on November 2, 2020.
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