§ 38a-707a — Producer compensation. Disclosure and customer acknowledgment.

(a) As used in this section: (1) “Affiliate” means a person who (A) controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with a producer, and (B) is permitted to receive compensation pursuant to this chapter; (2) “Compensation from an insurer or other third party” means payments, commissions, fees, awards, overrides, bonuses, contingent commissions, loans, stock options, gifts, prizes or other forms of valuable consideration, whether or not payable pursuant to a written agreement; (3) “Compensation directly from the customer” does not include any fee or amount allowed under section 38a-707 and regulations adopted pursuant to said section or any fee or amount collected by or paid to the producer that does not exceed an amount established by the commissioner pursuant to section 38a-707 ; (4) “Customer” does not include a person whose only relationship to the producer or affiliate with respect to the placement of insurance is as (A) a participant or beneficiary of an employee benefit plan, or (B) a person covered under a group or blanket insurance policy or group annuity contract; (5) “Documented acknowledgment” means the customer's written consent, except that in the case of a purchase over the telephone or by electronic means for which written consent cannot reasonably be obtained, “documented acknowledgment” includes consent documented by the producer; and (6) “Insurance producer” or “producer” means an insurance producer, as defined in section 38a-702a , except that “insurance producer” or “producer” does not include (A) a person such as a managing general agent, sales manager or wholesale broker who is licensed as an insurance producer and who acts only as an intermediary between an insurer and the customer's producer, or (B) a reinsurance intermediary. (b) If an insurance producer or affiliate of such producer receives any compensation directly from a customer for the initial placement of insurance, neither the producer nor the affiliate shall accept or receive any compensation from an insurer or other third party for that placement of insurance unless the producer has, prior to the time the policy is delivered to the customer: (1) Obtained the customer's documented acknowledgment that such compensation will be received by the producer or affiliate; and (2) Disclosed the amount of compensation that the producer or affiliate will receive from the insurer or other third party for the placement, except that if the amount of compensation is not known at the time of disclosure, the producer shall disclose the specific method for calculating such compensation and, if possible, a reasonable estimate of the amount. (c) Subsection (b) of this section shall not apply to: (1) An insurance producer who (A) does not receive compensation directly from the customer for the placement of insurance, and (B) discloses to the customer prior to the time the policy is delivered to the customer: (i) That the producer will receive compensation from an insurer in connection with that placement; or (ii) That, in connection with that placement of insurance, the insurance producer represents the insurer and that the producer may provide services to the customer for the insurer; (2) The placement of insurance in surplus lines or residual markets; or (3) A producer whose sole compensation is derived from commissions or other remuneration from the insurer.

Legislative History

(P.A. 05-61, S. 1.)