Richard Wolf of Rotheville Insurance Brokers left clients uninsured
The FSA has announced that an insurance broker has been stopped from conducting regulated activities after two insurance brokers reported that he had left clients uninsured.
Richard Michael Wolf was the sole director of Rotheville Insurance Brokers which advised on and sold insurance.
The FSA found Wolf was not fit and proper to work in the regulated financial services industry as he did not act honestly and he failed to comply with its requirements. Therefore he can no longer operate as an insurance broker and Rotheville can no longer conduct regulated business, the FSA said.
The FSA took action after two insurance brokers revealed that Wolf failed to pass on his clients' insurance premiums to them - leaving the clients potentially uninsured. At one stage Wolf owed over £42,000 of clients' insurance premiums to various brokers.
Additionally, investigators found that Wolf did not have adequate systems and controls in place to protect his customers. He did not have processes to ensure that clients' premiums were passed on to insurers on a timely basis, to check that clients were insured, or to check when clients’ policies were due for renewal. He also failed to disclose information to the FSA.
Jonathan Phelan, head of retail enforcement at the FSA, said: "It is imperative that firms handle clients' money properly and do not leave them believing they are insured, when they are not. Mr Wolf's conduct was particularly serious as it left his customers at considerable risk. Stopping someone from carrying out regulated business in the financial services industry is one of the toughest actions the FSA can take and we feel it is necessary in this case to protect both consumers and the reputation of the market."
Wolf and Rotheville Insurance Brokers were based in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
