New Mexico, with its aging population and increased incidents of major natural disasters, is a busy market for the insurance industry. Whether you're an insurance producer, adjuster, or consultant operating in bustling hubs like Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, or Rio Rancho or in the state's expansive rural areas, there is a strong need for your services.
However, with great opportunity comes great scrutiny. The Office of the Superintendent of Insurance (OSI) wields considerable power to license, monitor, and discipline those who sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance. A single error, be it an inadvertent error on a license application or a grave accusation of fraud, can quickly spiral into your license being put at risk. Other possible consequences include fines, suspensions, and increased oversight of future business dealings.
The OSI's reach extends well beyond New Mexico's border. The OSI collaborates with national entities to ensure that discipline here follows you nationwide. If you are facing discipline in New Mexico, your ability to practice from coast to coast may be at risk.
The Lento Law Firm and its experienced Professional License Defense Team stand ready to protect your license, your reputation, and your career. Our skilled attorneys bring many years of experience defending insurance professionals in New Mexico and nationwide. Our team doesn't just litigate. We negotiate directly with the regulators at the OSI, striving to secure outcomes that preserve your license and livelihood. That means softening penalties, averting suspension, or, in many instances, achieving outright dismissal of complaints. If you're an insurance professional in New Mexico under investigation or facing discipline, fighting the complaints along is just too risky. Call us at 888.535.3686 or tell us about your case through our online form.
The Office of the Superintendent of Insurance: The Authority Over Insurance Professionals in New Mexico
In New Mexico, the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance is in charge of regulating the insurance industry and the professionals within it. The New Mexico Insurance Code gives the OSI the power to issue licenses to insurance producers, adjusters, consultants, and other professionals. To secure and retain a license, one must demonstrate competence, financial responsibility, and ethical integrity. These qualifications are often interpreted broadly to ensure that all New Mexico insurance professionals act in an ethical, responsible, and competent manner.
The OSI doesn't work alone. It works alongside the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR), ensuring that disciplinary actions follow offenders beyond New Mexico's borders. A suspension here might trigger reciprocal penalties elsewhere.
The Office of the Superintendent of Insurance accepts online complaints from any source. This includes clients irked by a denied claim, competitors sniffing out unfair practices, and even functionally anonymous tips. Once a complaint is submitted, the OSI's disciplinary process begins. They will scrutinize your past and future conduct and assess your conduct for violation of any one of New Mexico's statutes and administrative rules.
This oversight serves an important purpose. The OSI's mission includes protecting consumers. But, for insurance professionals, it means that even something as simple as a clerical error or a typo can result in serious consequences. The Superintendent holds discretionary power to interpret what constitutes “untrustworthiness” or “incompetence.” This flexibility ensures the OSI can adapt to new challenges in the industry, but it also leaves professionals vulnerable to subjective judgment. This makes contacting the Lento Law Firm and beginning your defense as soon as possible crucial to a positive outcome.
Common Reasons a New Mexico Insurance Professional Faces Discipline
The New Mexico Insurance Code is unique in that it gives the OSI an unusually high amount of discretion when it comes to disciplining officials. Only a few specific offenses are listed in the Insurance Code. While the agency retains discretion to penalize conduct it deems unfit, certain forms of misconduct are commonly disciplined. Some of these forms of misconduct include:
- Misrepresentation: Providing false or misleading information, such as exaggerating policy benefits, altering claim details, or using deceptive ads. Even an honest mistake can raise doubts about your competence.
- Financial Misconduct: Mishandling money, like keeping client premiums for personal use or giving unreasonable payments to vendors.
- Out-of-State Discipline: OSI may suspend or revoke your license if you have been disciplined in any other jurisdiction, including in foreign nations.
- Criminal Convictions: Being found or pleading guilty to any felony or a misdemeanor involving “fraud or mural turpitude” frequently results in license revocation.
- Unfair Trade Practices: Engaging in dishonest sales tactics or other unethical behavior is one of the most common complaints the OSI sees.
- Ignoring OSI Requests: Not responding to subpoenas for documents, ignoring notices from the OSI, or failing to cooperate with investigations.
- Public Interest Violations: This includes acting in ways the OSI sees as unethical or harmful, like poor record-keeping or pushy sales methods.
- Past Discipline: Common examples include penalties in other states, tracked through NIPR records.
- False Application Info: Submitting incorrect details on a license application, even by mistake, can lead to denial or revocation. Discipline can still occur years after your license application was approved.
- Incompetence: Mishandling tasks, like miscalculating a claim's worth as an adjuster. This raises doubts about your skills and fit for the profession.
- Failure to Pay Taxes: This includes taxes at both the state and federal levels.
- Actions Against the Public Good: The OSI can revoke a license if the public's interests are not “properly served” by an insurance professional.
- Failure to Pay Child Support: This often demonstrates financial incompetence and a disregard for the rule of law.
The OSI disciplines insurance producers, brokers, adjusters, and other professionals for a wide variety of offenses. What constitutes an offense is often left to the discretion of the Superintendent and their staff. The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team can intervene in disciplinary investigations to make sure you know exactly what you are being investigated for. Additionally, we negotiate with the OSI on your behalf, ensuring that OSI's investigators do not get the opportunity to twist your words against you.
The Superintendent of Insurance Can Inflict Severe Consequences
The Office of the Superintendent of Insurance (OSI) in New Mexico possesses a wide variety of punitive measures that can alter an insurance professional's career in an instant. From small fines to permanent revocation, the OSI can tailor its punishment to fit every offense. Some of the most common disciplinary measures include:
- License Suspension: A suspension temporarily prevents professionals from working in the industry. A license could be suspended as a form of discipline, or it could be suspended pending an investigation. If your license is suspended, getting it back isn't automatic. To be relicensed, insurance professionals must demonstrate rehabilitation to the Superintendent's satisfaction.
- License Revocation: Revocation is often a permanent end to one's career in insurance. It is typically reserved for serious offenses like fraud or a large number of repeat offenses. However, those who demonstrate rehabilitation can be reinstated.
- Fines: Depending on the exact offense, you might face fines of up to $20,000. Furthermore, you might be fined several times for the same offense if the offense lasts multiple days or constantly reoccurs, snowballing the total amount you'll have to pay.
- Probation: Probation lets you keep your license active but under tight watch, with rules like extra training, enhanced continued education requirements, or frequent examinations of your transactions.
- Asset Forfeiture: In rare fraud cases, the OSI can take away money you gained improperly, on top of fines.
- Criminal Charges: The OSI frequently refers certain forms of misconduct, such as fraud, to criminal prosecutors. This means that you potentially face prison time and more stringent fines and asset forfeiture than the OSI can dish out.
The wide variety of disciplinary measures underscores the importance of retaining legal counsel. The skilled team at the Lento Law Firm has experience negotiating with insurance regulators to mitigate penalties. By contacting the Lento Law Firm and letting our Professional License Defense Team work on your behalf, you take the first step to build your defense as we work to prevent your license from being suspended or revoked.
Collateral Consequences: The Loss of Reputation and Future Employment Opportunities
Oftentimes, the worst part of a disciplinary proceeding isn't the formal discipline handed out; it is the loss of trust and future employment opportunities. Complaints and discipline outcomes quickly become public record. National registries are frequently updated to include recently disciplined professionals.
This means that a producer, adjuster, broker, or any other insurance professional tagged with a fraud settlement or censured for incompetence finds their name tarnished. In an industry where trust and reputation matter more than almost anything else, this can be career ending. After all, why wouldn't clients be wary of entrusting premiums to someone flagged as incompetent?
Employers, too, become skeptical of disciplined professionals. Most insurance companies do not hire formally disciplined employees as a matter of policy. As a result, discipline on your record frequently results in a professional being unemployable in the industry indefinitely.
Even if you dodge formal discipline, an ongoing investigation can harm your career. The New Mexico insurance industry is relatively small. As a result, rumors can quickly become wild exaggerations of the truth. Even before the Superintendent announces a verdict, your reputation might already be ruined. By contacting the Lento Law Firm as soon as possible, you give yourself the greatest chance of putting the rumors to bed and securing the best possible outcome for your case.
The New Mexico Insurance Professional Disciplinary Process
The OSI's disciplinary process typically follows a rigid process. Almost all investigations begin with a complaint which can be filed online by practically anyone. You'll often be notified promptly, as you are required to keep a record of complaints filed against you.
Most of the time, you'll be given a chance to file an initial reply. This initial reply is your first chance to explain your side of the story. Often, we can resolve a misunderstanding or a minor dispute before escalation. The OSI then investigates the complaint and your response. If satisfied, the matter can be closed in a few weeks. If not, an investigation may begin.
Each investigation is unique. An investigation might include audits of your files, interviews with witnesses, or subpoenas for bank statements. The OSI moves slowly but methodically. They can spend months or even over a year building a case against you. Cooperation is mandatory. Failure to cooperate with the investigation is grounds for discipline itself. However, cooperation is not capitulation. The Lento Law Firm can help you cooperate without saying too much or incriminating yourself.
At this point, a settlement is often reached. Our Professional License Defense Team has the experience needed to reach a favorable settlement for our New Mexico clients. Our approach often results in informal discipline that keeps your reputation clean and your license intact.
If a settlement cannot be reached, you will have the opportunity for a hearing before the Superintendent or an administrative officer. Much like a trial, you will have the opportunity to submit evidence and question witnesses. While intended to be less formal than a courtroom trial, there are still formal rules of procedure. The Lento Law Firm's skilled attorneys have many years of experience in administrative hearings.
The New Mexico Insurance Code allows for appeals in case the hearing results in an unfavorable outcome. You can appeal to the district court, to the New Mexico Court of Appeals, and then to the New Mexico Supreme Court. These appeals scrutinize the administrative hearing for legal and procedural errors.
Protect Your License and Reputation Today by Hiring the Lento Law Firm
You have worked hard to earn your place in the New Mexico insurance industry. By passing examinations and building a client base, you've shown that you have what it takes. Don't let the OSI twist your words against you in an attempt to show otherwise.
By hiring the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team, you bring decades of experience to your corner. We negotiate with the OSI to dismiss complaints early and craft responses that end investigations. From consent orders limiting penalties to appeals overturning harsh rulings, our team has done it all. If you're an insurance professional in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Rio Rancho, or anywhere throughout New Mexico, and find yourself facing the OSI's wrath, call us at 888.535.3686 or reach out to us on our online form.
