Chapter
084
2006 -- S 2589
Enacted 06/13/06
A N A
C T
RELATING TO INSURANCE
PRODUCERS' BRANCHES -- LIFE INSURANCE
COMPANIES' OFFICES
Introduced By: Senator Kevin
A. Breene
Date Introduced: February
09, 2006
It is
enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Section 27-2-18 of the General Laws in Chapter 27-2 entitled "Foreign
Insurance
Companies" is hereby amended to read as follows:
27-2-18.
Insurance producers' branches -- Life insurance companies' offices. Life
insurance
companies' offices. -- No
insurance producer of any foreign insurance company, other
than life,
doing business in any city or town in this state shall be allowed to establish
any branch
agency
in any other city or town in the state; provided, that every Every life insurance company
doing
business in this state, and whose premium income received from the inhabitants
of this
state in
any one year shall exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), shall equip
and
maintain
an office in this state, satisfactory to the insurance commissioner, for the
transaction of
business
in this state.
SECTION
2. Sections 27-2.4-9 and 27-2.4-15 of the General Laws in Chapter 27-2.4
entitled
"Producer Licensing Act" are hereby amended to read as follows:
27-2.4-9.
License. -- (a) Unless denied licensure pursuant to section 27-2.4-14,
persons
who have
met the requirements of sections 27-2.4-7 and 27-2.4-8 shall be issued an
insurance
producer
license. An insurance producer may receive qualification for a license in one
or more of
the
following lines of authority:
(1) Life insurance coverage on human lives including benefits of endowment and
annuities,
and may include benefits in the event of death or dismemberment by accident and
benefits
for disability income;
(2) Accident and health or sickness insurance coverage for sickness, bodily
injury or
accidental
death and may include benefits for disability income;
(3) Property insurance coverage for the direct or consequential loss or damage
to
property
of every kind;
(4) Casualty insurance coverage against legal liability, including that for
death, injury or
disability
or damage to real or personal property;
(5) Variable life and variable annuity products insurance coverage provided
under
variable
life insurance contracts and variable annuities;
(6) Personal lines-property and casualty insurance coverage sold to individuals
and
families
for primary noncommercial purposes;
(7) Credit-limited line credit insurance;
(8) Any other line of insurance permitted under state laws or regulations.
(b) An insurance producer license shall remain in effect unless revoked or
suspended as
long as
the fee set forth in section 27-2.4-4 is paid and education requirements for
resident
individual
insurance producers are met by the license renewal due date.
(c) An individual insurance producer who allows his or her license to expire
may, within
twelve
(12) months from the due date of the renewal fee, reinstate this license
without the
necessity
of passing a written examination. A penalty in the amount of double the unpaid
renewal
fee
shall be required for any renewal fee received after the due date.
(d) A licensed insurance producer who is unable to comply with license renewal
procedures
due to military service or some other extenuating circumstance (e.g., a
long-term
medical
disability) may request a waiver of those procedures. The insurance producer
may also
request
a waiver of any examination requirement or any other fine or sanction imposed
for failure
to
comply with renewal procedures.
(e) The license shall contain the insurance producer's name, address, personal
identification license number, and the date of issuance,
the license type, lines of authority, the
expiration
date and any other information the
insurance commissioner deems necessary.
(f) Insurance producers shall inform the insurance commissioner by any means
acceptable
to the insurance commissioner of a change in legal name or address within
thirty (30)
days of
the change. Failure to timely inform the insurance commissioner of a change in
legal
name or
address may result in a penalty to be determined by the insurance commissioner.
(g) In order to assist in the performance of the insurance commissioner's
duties, the
insurance
commissioner may contract with non-government entities, including the NAIC or
any
affiliates
or subsidiaries which the NAIC oversees, to perform any ministerial functions,
including
the collection of fees, related to insurance producer licensing that the
insurance
commissioner
and the non-governmental entity may deem appropriate.
27-2.4-15.
Commissions. -- (a) No insurer or insurance producer shall pay,
directly or
indirectly,
any commission, service fee, brokerage, or other valuable consideration to any
person
for services
as an insurance producer unless the person performing the service held a valid
license
regarding
the class or classes of insurance as to which the service was rendered at the
time the
service
was performed. No person, other than a person properly licensed in accordance
with this
chapter
at the time the person performs services as an insurance producer, shall accept
any
commissions,
service fee, brokerage, or other valuable consideration for the services.
Acceptance
of the
consideration shall constitute operating without a license. This section shall
not prevent
payment
or receipt of renewal or other deferred commissions to or by any person
entitled to the
payment
or receipt under this chapter.
(b) No person shall accept a commission, service fee, brokerage or other
valuable
consideration
for selling, soliciting or negotiating insurance in this state if that person
is required
to be
licensed under this chapter and is not licensed.
(c) Renewal or other deferred commissions may be paid to a person for selling,
soliciting
or
negotiating insurance in this state if the person was required to be licensed
under this chapter at
the time
of the sale, solicitation or negotiation and was licensed at that time.
(d) An insurer or insurance producer may pay or assign commissions, service
fees,
brokerages
or other valuable consideration to an insurance agency or to persons who do not
sell,
solicit
or negotiate insurance in this state, unless the payment would violate this
chapter or any of
the
provisions of title 19 or this title sections
27-4-6, 27-6-46, 27-8-7, 27-9-44 and 27-29-4 of the
general
laws of this state.
SECTION
3. Sections 27-3.2-4 and 27-3.2-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 27-3.2
entitled
"Continuing Education Requirements" are hereby amended to read as
follows:
27-3.2-4.
Educational requirements. -- (a) Any person holding a license issued
pursuant
to this
title and not exempt under section 27-3.2-3 shall, for each twelve (12)
month period
beginning
with the first renewal of the license, satisfactorily complete, as may be
approved by the
insurance
commissioner, courses or programs of instruction or attend seminars equivalent
to a
minimum
of fifteen (15) accumulated credit hours with a minimum of five (5) hours of
each class
of
insurance. satisfactorily complete
continuing education courses in accordance with regulations
promulgated
by the director.
(b) The courses or programs of instruction satisfactorily completed which
shall be
deemed
to meet the insurance commissioner's standards for continuing education
requirements
and
the number of classroom hours for which they are equivalent are:
(1) Any part of the life underwriter training council life course curriculum:
fifty (50)
hours;
health course: twenty-five (25) hours;
(2) Any part of the American college "CLU" diploma curriculum: thirty
(30) hours;
(3) Any part of the Insurance Institute of America's program in general
insurance:
twenty-five
(25) hours;
(4) Any part of the American Institute for Property and Liability Underwriter's
chartered
property
casualty underwriter (CPCU) professional designation program: thirty (30)
hours.
(5) Any part of the certified insurance counselor program: twenty-five (25)
hours;
(6) Any insurance related course approved by the insurance commissioner taught
by an
accredited
college or university, per credit hour granted: fifteen (15) hours;
(7) Any part of the accredited advisor in insurance program: twenty-five (25)
hours;
(8) Any part of the registered health underwriter (RHU) designation program:
thirty (30)
hours;
(9) Any course or program of instruction or seminar developed and/or sponsored
by any
authorized
insurer, recognized agents' association, or insurance trade association, or any
independent
program of instruction, shall, subject to the approval of the insurance
commissioner
with
the advice of the continuing education board as established by section
27-3.2-5, qualify for
the
equivalency of the number of hours assigned to it by the insurance
commissioner; and
(10) Any correspondence course approved by the insurance commissioner with the
advice
of the continuing education board as established by section 27-3.2-5 shall
qualify for the
equivalency
of the number of classroom hours assigned to it by the insurance commissioner.
(c) A person teaching any approved course of instruction or lecturing at any
approved
seminar
shall qualify for the same number of classroom hours as would be granted to a
person
taking
and successfully completing that course, seminar, or program.
27-3.2-6.
Compliance. -- (a)
Any person licensed pursuant to this title and not exempt
under
section 27-3.2-3 shall comply with all of the terms and requirements of this
chapter and
regulations
promulgated hereunder.
(b) Excess classroom hours accumulated during one renewal period may be
carried
forward
through the end of the next renewal period.
(c) The commissioner, for good cause shown, may grant an extension of time
during
which
the requirements of this chapter may be completed, but that extension of time
shall not
exceed
the period of one year.
(d) Every person subject to the provisions of this chapter shall furnish, in a
form
satisfactory
to the insurance commissioner, written certification as to the courses,
programs, or
seminars
of instruction taken and successfully completed by that person. The
certification shall be
executed
by or on behalf of the sponsoring organization.
SECTION
4. This act shall take effect upon passage except for Section 3 which shall
take
effect
on January 1, 2007.
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LC01596
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