BrokerExam
On January 28, 2021, a motor vehicle hit the commercial premises of Sinsations Adult Boutique, a client of the brokerage now called Paisley Partners Inc. There was no policy in force. The client’s policy had come up for renewal in December 2018 and, in the words of the agreed facts, was ultimately not renewed. The client had nonetheless written a premium cheque dated the day before the crash. Over the following months the broker on the file, Michael Caleb Kuchinsky, paid the client $7,513.11 himself by e-transfer against the invoices sent to him. On November 27, 2025, RIBO’s Discipline Committee accepted his guilty plea, found misconduct, and ordered his registration permanently revoked, with a $1,500 fine payable at $100 a month. The decision is published on CanLII as Michael Caleb Kuchinsky, 2025 CanLII 147381 (ON RIBODC), and carries RIBO’s own citation 2025 ONRIBODC 7.
What happened
The agreed statement of facts traces the file back to the 2018 renewal. On November 23, 2018, Mr. Kuchinsky wrote to GroupOne Insurance that the client’s policy was due for renewal on December 8. GroupOne asked for the client’s annual revenues and about a business name change, he obtained the answers from the client and passed them on, and on December 18 GroupOne issued renewal terms. He questioned the premium, was told it reflected the nature of the client’s business, and was offered a 30-day extension. The same day he asked Burns & Wilcox for a quotation, received one on December 20, and requested a formal quote on December 24 (agreed facts, paragraphs 5 to 9).
The brokerage’s file has no note saying why the renewal did not go through, and no correspondence between the client and Mr. Kuchinsky from December 5, 2018 until August 25, 2021, when the client was told the brokerage had moved offices (agreed facts, paragraph 10).
On December 5, 2020, an invoice for $2,133.00 was created in the brokerage’s management system, and the client provided a cheque dated January 27, 2021 (agreed facts, paragraph 11). The vehicle hit the premises the next day. On February 2, 2021, the client’s principal contacted Mr. Kuchinsky directly to report the claim. Over the following months, invoices totalling $8,786.36 were provided to him. Between May 9 and July 15, 2021, he personally paid the client $7,513.11 by Interac e-transfer (agreed facts, paragraphs 12 to 14).
The brokerage learned of all this on February 10, 2022. After an internal investigation it wrote to the client apologizing and returning the $2,133.00 the client had paid, and Mr. Kuchinsky agreed to retire from the brokerage and to forfeit his RIBO licence, both effective March 18, 2022 (agreed facts, paragraph 15). The principal broker’s complaint reached RIBO on February 23, 2022, and the Complaints Committee referred the matter to the Discipline Committee on August 27, 2024 (agreed facts, paragraphs 2 and 4).
The provisions he breached
The updated notice of hearing charged misconduct under paragraph 9 of s. 15 (1) of O. Reg. 991 for “failing to place insurance coverage for a client and making several personal payments to a client after a reported loss as a result of his failure to place the insurance coverage,” contrary to three paragraphs of the Code of Conduct in s. 14 (paragraph [4]). Code paragraph 1 requires a member to discharge the member’s duties to clients, the public, fellow members and insurers with integrity. Code paragraph 3 requires conscientious, diligent and efficient service. Code paragraph 4 requires a member to be “both candid and honest when advising the member’s client.” He pleaded guilty to all three (paragraph [6]), and the panel found him guilty of misconduct for the breach of each (paragraph [10]).
The penalty
The joint submission was permanent revocation and a $1,500 fine, paid in monthly instalments of $100 starting within 30 days of the order. The panel accepted it and made the order effective November 27, 2025 (paragraph [18]). By then Mr. Kuchinsky had not been registered for more than three and a half years: the agreed facts record that he ceased being registered with RIBO effective March 18, 2022 (agreed facts, paragraph 1).
The submissions on penalty named one aggravating factor: Mr. Kuchinsky “was not honest with his client and his brokerage and there was a brief initial failure to cooperate with RIBO investigators” (paragraph [16]). On mitigation, RIBO submitted that he took responsibility for the conduct and retired his licence effective March 18, 2022, and that at the pre-hearing conference he accepted full responsibility, agreed to plead guilty and negotiated a settlement (paragraph [15]). He told the panel he had been a broker for 48 years with no prior issues, and that when he realized his mistake “he panicked and made the wrong decisions for which he accepted responsibility” (paragraph [17]). No discipline history was alleged (paragraph [21]).
The panel’s reasons draw the line between the error and what followed it. Failing to arrange coverage “leaves clients and their assets unprotected and is a breach of the standards expected of a licensee” (paragraph [20]). When an error occurs, “it is incumbent upon licensees to act with integrity by being candid and honest with the client, employers, insurers and brokerage regarding the error so that appropriate steps can be taken to rectify the issues” (paragraph [21]). The panel also weighed that the client had been reimbursed for the uninsured loss and had its premium returned, and so was not out of pocket (paragraph [22]).