Ethics: Personal Fundamentals

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Honesty and Integrity In Action Little Errors What about those occasions where an innocent error happens? We know these things happen- even to those who have the highest degree of integrity. When this arises or comes to light, the high integrity person acknowledges the error, apologizes for it, and immediately takes steps and action to fix it. The same goes for situations where differing opinions are legitimate and where those opinions may give rise to an integrity issue. Suffice it to say that there are letters of the law when it comes to ethics as well as the spirit of the laws of integrity. The key is whether the error or situation was knowingly deceitful or a compromise of one's principles of honesty and integrity. This sheds light on the issue that we humans are not perfect all the time. It is a difficult issue due to the fact that we live in a world that wants everything to be black and white. The important aspects are: what was the knowledge behind and the motive behind the error? The important things to consider are what we do about it and if it should or should not have happened. This kind of situation involves the principle of integrity. In fact, there are all kinds of specific situations that we encounter every day that require more particular guidelines for integrity within integrity sub-categories. Integrity is not just a philosophical principle. It has specific applicability to the every day issues and practices that we find ourselves involved in during the course of everyday activities, such as marketing and handling our clients' money, just to name a few. Recommendations and Sales of Products Regardless of the agent's method of compensation, fees and/or commission, he or she may recommend investment or insurance products to their clients. The ethic issue arises when the product sponsors offer incentives and compensation for specifically selling their product. In recommending a product, your client trusts the agent to be honest and independent. Therefore, the agent should not allow sales incentives, promotions, or commission levels to influence their decision. Processing Errors Mistakes do happen, whether it is a computer error, clerical error, or otherwise. The ethical issues arise in how the agent handles the error. Errors require the agent's prompt attention in order to correct as well as disclosing information regarding the error to the client.

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Not only are policy forms, clauses, rules and court decisions constantly changing, but forms vary from company to company and state to state. This material is intended as a general guideline and might not apply to a specific situation. The authors, LunchTimeCE, Inc., CEfreedom, and InsuranceEthics101.com, and any organization for whom this course is administered will have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of information contained in this course.