New Jersey is a great place for an insurance practice, with substantial insurance markets in several areas. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners ranks New Jersey fifth among all states in the worker's compensation market, sixth nationally in ocean and inland marine coverage, eighth in property and casualty coverage, and eighth in total premiums. You should have plenty of insurance business in these and other lines. Yet, to enjoy the rewards of that business, you must maintain your New Jersey Division of Insurance licensure. Losing your insurance license to disciplinary charges means losing your insurance practice, business, and income.
If you face New Jersey Division of Insurance disciplinary charges, your best move is to retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team for the skilled and experienced representation you need. Our attorneys are available in Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, Lakewood, Edison, Woodbridge, Toms River, Hamilton Township, Trenton, Clifton, Cherry Hill, Brick, Camden, Bayonne, Passaic, and all other New Jersey locations. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now for our highly qualified help protecting your New Jersey insurance license and practice. Consider the following New Jersey insurance license defense issues and procedures, along with how we can help you defend and defeat your disciplinary charges.
New Jersey Insurance Division License Authority
The New Jersey Insurance Producer Licensing Act governs the licensing and regulation of insurance agents, brokers, and producers in the state. The Act's Section 17:22A-29 expressly prohibits insurance practice in the state without a New Jersey Division of Insurance license. The Act's Section 17:22A-45 authorizes the Insurance Commissioner to impose a penalty of up to $5,000 for a first offense of unlicensed practice and up to $10,000 for second and subsequent offenses. The same section affords the Commissioner the power to obtain a court injunction restraining unlicensed practice, the violation of which can lead to further fines and incarceration. If you continue your insurance practice after the Division of Insurance has suspended your license, your violation may lead to further disciplinary charges and permanent license revocation. Your risks of unlicensed practice are far too great to do anything other than defend and defeat your current license. Let us help you do so.
New Jersey Discipline Multistate Licensure Issues
Your risks of New Jersey license discipline extend beyond the borders of New Jersey. You may hold insurance licenses in other states or plan to do so. However, your discipline in New Jersey can subject you to license discipline in other states. Some state licensing boards presume your unfitness for practice in their state if another state licensing board has already made that determination for its own state. Losing your New Jersey insurance license could mean being unable to continue, establish, or resume an insurance practice in any other state, effectively ending your insurance career. Don't run that very large risk. Instead, get our highly qualified help defending your current New Jersey disciplinary charges.
New Jersey Insurance Professional Misconduct
As a skilled and dedicated insurance producer, including broker, agent, or adjuster, you surely don't plan to commit any act for which you could suffer New Jersey Division of Insurance license discipline. You likely know the rules, customs, and secure practices, and you likely make every effort to follow those conventions as a safe harbor against disciplinary charges. Yet errors, omissions, temptations, and other natural risks of discipline simply exist, which is why states license and regulate insurance producers. Insurance is a complex business involving the most substantial financial, personal, and professional interests. When an insurance agent's actions adversely affect those interests, the individual or entity suffering the loss will look closely at the agent's actions and complain when those actions violate insurance standards. The Insurance Producers Model Act lists these common forms of insurance producer misconduct that may subject an insurance professional to discipline:
- securing an insurance license by misrepresentations in the license application or other means of subverting the licensing process;
- unauthorized use of materials or devices, unauthorized assistance, or other cheating on insurance licensing exam;
- violating insurance statutes, insurance industry standards, or insurance commissioner rules, orders, or subpoenas;
- withholding, misappropriating, or converting insurance customer property, rights, opportunities, or funds;
- misrepresenting the terms or conditions of insurance policies, premiums, and coverages;
- making or facilitating false applications for insurance or forging signatures on insurance applications or other insurance documents;
- felony conviction for any crime or misdemeanor conviction for crimes related to insurance practice;
- unfair competition, restraints of trade, or trade practices in insurance business;
- dishonest, incompetent, untrustworthy, or irresponsible insurance practices;
- discipline of an insurance license by a board in another state or jurisdiction;
- engaging in unauthorized insurance business with an unlicensed individual, facilitating unlicensed insurance practice, and
- violating court orders for child support or failing to pay state income taxes.
New Jersey Insurance Division Disciplinary Grounds
New Jersey's insurance laws easily reach, cover, and authorize license discipline for the above list of Insurance Producers Model Act common forms of misconduct. Section 17:22A-40 of the New Jersey Insurance Producer Licensing Act lists at least eighteen separate grounds for license discipline. The list of grounds is important to your disciplinary case because New Jersey Division of Insurance enforcement officials must rely on one or more of the statutory grounds to support their disciplinary charges. We can help you examine your charges to challenge their legal basis, as well as mount your factual defense and case in mitigation of any sanction. Section 17:22A-40's list of disciplinary grounds includes the following, in addition to the Model Act grounds listed above: (1) fraudulent, coercive, or dishonest insurance practices; and (2) failing to notify the Insurance Commissioner of a disqualifying criminal conviction, indictment, or license discipline in another state within thirty days of its occurrence.
Defenses to New Jersey Insurance Division Charges
New Jersey Division of Insurance disciplinary charges should rightly concern you. You have a lot at stake in a disciplinary proceeding. But don't let your disciplinary charges so unsettle you that you ignore the charges or admit to them without our advice and evaluation. Your disciplinary charge does not necessarily mean that you did anything wrong. It doesn't even mean that disciplinary officials have substantial evidence of a wrong. They may instead be on a proverbial fishing expedition, hoping that you will admit to wrongs about which they can only guess or conjecture. We may be able to raise factual and legal defenses to your disciplinary charge or, if you committed the alleged wrongs, show that your violations do not warrant a punitive sanction. Here are some other defenses we may be able to raise in defense of your New Jersey Division of Insurance charges, depending on your circumstances:
- complaining witnesses made no first-hand observation of your alleged wrongs and are instead guessing, speculating, conjecturing, or relying on unreliable hearsay;
- complaining witnesses have misidentified you either because of a mistake, in retaliation, or to cover up another's wrong;
- the allegations are a competitor's attempt to undermine your reputation to steal your insurance practice;
- the allegations are a customer's fraudulent attempt to blame you for adverse outcomes for which you were not responsible;
- the charges, although factually true in some respects, materially misconstrue your innocent actions and intentions;
- your actions met all insurance statutes, rules, and standards in the customary manner among competent insurance professionals under the circumstances then and there existing;
- you undertook your actions reasonably relying on the advice or direction of others knowledgeable as to the applicable rules and standards;
- your actions cause no harm or loss and created no substantial risk of harm or loss;
- you acted under extraordinary exigent and unforeseeable circumstances that are not likely to repeat and
- you have a long and clean record of sound insurance practice for many insurance customers who continue to value your services.
Our Role Defending New Jersey Insurance Charges
Our attorneys know the strategic steps to promptly take to most effectively defend and defeat your New Jersey Division of Insurance disciplinary charges. Our first action while investigating the allegations is ordinarily to notify New Jersey Division of Insurance officials of our appearance on your behalf. Our formal appearance with your consent ensures that Division of Insurance officials communicate with us regarding the status and defense of your disciplinary matter. We can promptly answer the charges, raising your legal and factual defenses. We may also be able to arrange an early conciliation conference at which to present your exonerating and mitigating information and your completed or proposed remedial measures. An early voluntary dismissal of the charges is often your best possible outcome. If, instead, your matter proceeds to an administrative hearing, we can appear at the hearing to present your defense witnesses and exhibits while challenging the Division of Insurance incriminating witnesses and other evidence. If you have already lost your formal hearing, we can take the available appeals or obtain the available judicial review. Alternative special relief may even be available if you have already exhausted formal channels for relief.
New Jersey Insurance Division Complaints
New Jersey Insurance Producers Licensing Act Sections 17:22A-40, 17:22A-43, and 17:22A-45 authorize the New Jersey Division of Insurance to investigate disciplinary allegations, including to interview witnesses under oath and secure and store documents. The New Jersey Division of Insurance encourages consumers to make inquiries and complaints about its licensed insurance producers, including offering an online complaint form. Consumers are indeed common complainants because they bear the brunt of any losses associated with inadequate insurance coverages, have close interaction with insurance producers, may disagree with a producer's opinions, advice, or manner, and yet lack substantial knowledge of insurance producer standards. Competitor insurance producers can also complain, as can insurance associates. New Jersey Division of Insurance enforcement officials also monitor criminal and civil court filings, disciplinary databases from other state insurance boards, and public media reports relating to insurance producer misconduct.
Responding to Insurance Division Investigation
Retain us the moment you learn that a customer, competitor, or colleague intends to complain to New Jersey Division of Insurance officials that you violated the Division's standards. We may be able to head off a formal complaint by diplomatically sharing your information and explanation with the concerned individual or individuals so that they understand that you did not violate any standard. Don't do so on your own without our assistance, lest your communications and interaction leave an inference of your complainant's coercion or obstruction of an investigation.
New Jersey Insurance Department Procedures
New Jersey Insurance Producers Licensing Act Section 17:22A-40 expressly grants a licensee whom the New Jersey Division of Insurance has charged with misconduct the right to invoke the procedural protections of the New Jersey Administrative Procedure Act, including by requesting a formal hearing on the charges. We can help you put those protections to their best strategic use in the effective defense of your charges.
New Jersey Insurance Department Discipline
New Jersey Insurance Producers Licensing Act Section 17:22A-40 expressly grants the New Jersey Division of Insurance the authority to suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew your license once it proves grounds for discipline. The Division of Insurance may also levy a civil fine against you and may impliedly take other action. The New Jersey Division of Insurance publishes its disciplinary action reports online for public viewing. Don't doubt the Division's willingness to pursue charges. And avoid retaining unqualified local criminal defense counsel. The civil and criminal court rules differ from the above administrative laws, rules, and procedures. Our attorneys know the administrative rules, customs, and conventions and have the skills, experience, reputation, and relationships for your best defense.
Premier New Jersey Insurance License Defense
If you face New Jersey Division of Insurance disciplinary charges, the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team is available at your New Jersey location for your defense. We help hundreds of insurance brokers, agents, adjusters, and other professionals across New Jersey and nationwide defend disciplinary charges of all kinds. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now for the strategic representation you need to protect your New Jersey insurance license and practice.
