§1808.12. Prohibited acts

A.(1) No person licensed and acting as an insurance consultant under a written agreement pursuant to R.S. 22:1808.11, shall sell, solicit, make an application for, procure, negotiate for, or place for others, any policies for any lines of insurance.

(2) No insurer or insurance producer shall pay any money or commission or brokerage, or give or allow any valuable consideration or compensation to any person or business entity duly licensed and acting as an insurance consultant under a written agreement pursuant to R.S. 22:1808.11.

(3) A consultant who is also licensed as an insurance producer shall not, when representing himself as an insurance consultant under a written agreement pursuant to R.S. 22:1808.11, solicit, sell, or negotiate contracts of insurance or otherwise act as an insurance producer, and shall not receive directly or indirectly from an insurance company, broker, or insurance producer any money or commission or brokerage, or give or allow any valuable consideration or compensation for the solicitation, negotiation, application, sale or placement of insurance coverages which were the subject of a written consulting contract as required by R.S. 22:1808.11 during the term of the written consulting contract.

(4) An insurance producer who has a financial or business interest or affiliation with an insurance consultant acting as a consultant under a written contract as required by R.S. 22:1808.11, shall not solicit, negotiate or sell insurance, either directly or indirectly, with respect to the insurance risks of the insured or prospective insured which were the subject of the consulting contract during the term of the written consulting contract.

(5) An insurance consultant shall not have a direct or indirect financial interest in any aspect of their consulting work, other than the consulting fee compensation established in the written contract with the insured.

(6) An insurance consultant shall not solicit employment or engagement, directly or indirectly, for or on behalf of any insurance producer, attorney at law, contractor, or other person with which the insurance consultant has a business relationship or financial interest. Nothing in this Part shall be interpreted to prevent an insurance consultant from recommending a particular insurance producer, attorney, contractor, or other person; however, the insurance consultant is prohibited from collecting any fee, compensation, or other valuable consideration for such referral.

(7) An insurance consultant shall not engage in the unauthorized practice of law as defined in R.S. 37:212 and 213.

B.(1) Whoever violates this Section shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than two thousand dollars, nor more than fifty thousand dollars, or imprisoned with or without hard labor, for not more than three years, or both.

(2) Any conviction for violation of this Section shall constitute grounds for the immediate suspension or revocation by the commissioner of insurance of the license of such insurance consultant to sell insurance, in addition to those grounds set forth in R.S. 22:1808.8.

C. Nothing in this Section shall prohibit an insurance producer from receiving reimbursement of expenses or an agency fee for services provided as the producer of record as authorized pursuant to R.S. 22:855(B).

Acts 2016, No. 312, §1.