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The Law Society provided a Notice to real estate lawyers on August 1, 2025 advising that effective October 1, 2025 title insurers are required to report to FINTRAC. The Notice contained important cautions for lawyers who were considering: (i) acting as a title insurer’s agent to provide a client’s confidential information to the title insurer; and (ii) entering into a written agreement with the title insurer to provide non-legal services — to verify a client’s identity to assist title insurers in fulfilling their FINTRAC obligations.
Updated agency agreement with enhanced protections for lawyers
To address lawyers’ concerns regarding potential risks that may arise from entering into agency agreements with title insurers, we negotiated new agreements with three title insurers to provide BC lawyers with greater protections. Please ensure that you enter into a new agreement, as the earlier version may not fully align with your professional obligations. In addition, the new agreement now includes enhanced provisions — a broader indemnity, a covenant not to sue, and limited disclosure obligations — to better safeguard your interests while ensuring compliance with your professional obligations.
To enter into an updated agency agreement take the steps set out here, for:
Please note that the title insurers may require some additional time to update their systems to accommodate the changed terms. You may have to go back to these links in a week or two to see that the updated agency agreements are available.
Client consent agreement Consider using this form of client consent.*
You must have your purchaser client’s fully informed, written consent before disclosing to a title insurer any confidential information about them or their real estate transaction — including verification of their identity or details of the transaction — (review BC Code rules 3.3-1 to 3.3-2, 3.4-2 and Commentaries). You must be candid and inform the purchaser of all information that may affect the client’s interest and disclose the information in sufficient time for the client to make a genuine decision (BC Code rule 3.2-2 and Commentary). Prior to obtaining your client’s consent, you must fully inform the client of all information relevant to the client's decision and disclose at a minimum the specific information and records you intend to disclose, as set out in the Notice to real estate lawyers.
Should I enter into an agency agreement with a title insurer?
If you are not comfortable with the potential liability to which you may be exposed by entering into an agency agreement to provide non-legal services to a title insurer to verify a client’s identity, just say no. You can always provide the client with the title insurer’s contact details so they can purchase title insurance directly.
Do I have indemnity coverage for a claim by a title insurer while acting as agent of the title insurer?
No. There is no coverage under the BC Lawyers Professional Liability Indemnification Policy because the services that you are providing to the title insurer are not “professional services”, as defined by the policy. Additionally, contractual liability is excluded.
*We extend a special thanks to Ed Wilson of Lawson Lundell LLP for his assistance in concluding new agency agreements and drafting the client consent form.