The Insurance Act prohibits insurers from directly paying unlicensed service providers for specified goods or services ("listed expenses") provided to injured claimants.
Before issuing payment to a service provider for listed expenses, insurers must check
FSCO's Public Registry of Licensed Service Providers to ensure that the licence of the service provider is in good standing.
An insurer that does not confirm the status of a service provider for payment of listed expenses risks violating the Insurance Act and may be subject to enforcement action.
Service provider trade names
Insurers can issue payment to a licensed service provider in a registered trade name if that trade name appears on
FSCO's Public Registry of Licensed Service Providers. Insurers must check the registry before every payment to verify the legal and trade names of a service provider.
Insurers should be mindful that trade names have expiration dates and that beginning January 2016, FSCO will automatically remove expired trade names from the registry for service providers.
If a service provider's trade name no longer appears on the registry, insurers can continue to issue direct payment to the service provider in its legal name as identified on the registry.
Brian Mills
Chief Executive Officer and
Superintendent of Financial Services
January 8, 2016