§ 22:1544 — Exceptions to licensing; prohibitions

A. Nothing in this Subpart shall be construed to require an insurer to obtain an insurance producer license. In this Section, the term "insurer" does not include an insurer's officers, directors, employees, subsidiaries, or affiliates.
B. A license as an insurance producer shall not be required of the following:
(1) An officer, director, or employee of an insurer or of an insurance producer, provided that the officer, director, or employee does not receive any commission on policies written or sold to insure risks residing, located, or to be performed in this state and:
(a) The officer's, director's, or employee's activities are executive, administrative, managerial, clerical, or a combination of these, and are not the sale, solicitation, or negotiation of insurance;
(b) The officer's, director's, or employee's function relates to underwriting, loss control, inspection, or the processing, adjusting, investigating, or settling of a claim on a contract of insurance; or
(c) The officer, director, or employee is acting in the capacity of a special agent or agency supervisor assisting insurance producers where the person's activities are limited to providing technical advice and assistance to licensed insurance producers and do not include the sale, solicitation, or negotiation of insurance.
(2) A person who secures and furnishes information for the purpose of group life insurance, group annuities, group or blanket accident and health insurance; or for the purpose of enrolling individuals under plans, issuing certificates under plans, or otherwise assisting in administering plans; or performs administrative services related to mass marketed property and casualty insurance; where no commission is paid to the person for the service.
(3) An employer or association or its officers, directors, employees, or the trustees of an employee trust plan, to the extent that the employer's or association's officers, employees, director, or trustees are engaged in the administration or operation of a program of employee benefits for the employer's or association's own employees or the employees of its subsidiaries or affiliates, which program involves the use of insurance issued by an insurer, as long as the employer, association, officers, directors, employees, or trustees are not in any manner compensated, directly or indirectly, by the company issuing the contracts.
(4) Employees of insurers or organizations employed by insurers who are engaging in the inspection, rating, or classification of risks, or in the supervision of the training of insurance producers and who are not individually engaged in the sale, solicitation, or negotiation of insurance.
(5) A person whose activities in this state are limited to advertising without the intent to solicit insurance in this state through communications in printed publications or other forms of electronic mass media whose distribution is not limited to residents of this state, if the person does not sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance that would insure risks residing, located, or to be performed in this state.
(6) A person who is not a resident of this state who sells, solicits, or negotiates a contract of insurance for commercial property and casualty risks to an insured with risks located in more than one state insured under that contract, if that person is otherwise licensed as an insurance producer to sell, solicit, or negotiate that insurance in the state where the insured maintains its principal place of business and the contract of insurance insures risks located in that state.
(7) A salaried full-time employee who counsels or advises his employer relative to the insurance interests of the employer or of the subsidiaries or business affiliates of the employer if the employee does not sell or solicit insurance or receive a commission.
(8) Employees of an insurer or of an insurance producer who respond to requests from existing policyholders on existing policies if those employees are not directly compensated based on the volume of premiums that may result from these services and if those employees do not sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance.
C.(1) The Department of Insurance shall not grant, renew, reinstate, or permit to continue any license if the license is being or will be used by the applicant or licensee for the sole purpose of writing controlled business. For purposes of this Subpart, "controlled business" shall mean either of the following:
(a) Insurance written on the interests of the licensee or those of his immediate family or of his employer.
(b) Insurance covering himself or members of his immediate family, or a corporation, association, or partnership, or the officers, directors, substantial stockholders, partners, or employees of a corporation, association, or partnership, of which he or a member of his immediate family is an officer, director, substantial stockholder, partner, associate, or employee.
(2) Nothing in this Subsection shall apply to insurance written in connection with any credit transactions.
(3) Any license under this Subsection shall be deemed to have been, or intended to be, used for the purpose of writing controlled business, if the Department of Insurance determines that during any twelve-month period the aggregate commissions earned from the controlled business has exceeded twenty-five percent of the aggregate commissions earned on all business written by such applicant or licensee during the same period.
D. No person shall be licensed as an insurance producer, limited lines producer, surplus lines broker, or managing general agent in this state if he or any person who owns directly or indirectly more than ten percent of the beneficial interest in a business entity applying for a license, is either a citizen of, resident of, domiciled in, or the commissioner determines that he or the beneficial owner maintains significant assets in a country that the commissioner determines does not give full faith and credit to any judgment rendered by a court of this state or of the United States, or that the country does not have laws similar to those of this state for the discovery of assets of the insurer, seizure or sale of such assets, and execution of a judgment thereof.

Legislative History

Acts 2001, No. 158, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2002; Redesignated from R.S. 22:1134 by Acts 2008, No. 415, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009; Acts 2011, No. 94, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2012.