A. An insurance producer shall not act as an agent of an insurer unless the insurance producer becomes an appointed agent of that insurer. An insurance producer who is not acting as an agent of an insurer is not required to become appointed.

B. To appoint a producer as its agent, the appointing insurer, or an authorized representative of the insurer, shall file, in a format approved by the Insurance Commissioner, a notice of appointment within fifteen (15) days from the date the agent contract is executed. For purposes of this section, an "authorized representative of the insurer" means a person or entity licensed by the Commissioner pursuant to the laws of this state who is authorized in writing by the appointing insurer to file appointments for the appointing insurer. An insurer or authorized representative of an insurer may also elect to appoint a producer to all or some insurers within the insurer's holding company system or group by the filing of a single appointment request.

C. Upon receipt of the notice of appointment, the Insurance Commissioner shall verify within a reasonable time not to exceed thirty (30) days that the insurance producer is eligible for appointment. If the insurance producer is determined to be ineligible for appointment, the Commissioner shall notify the insurer and the authorized representative of the insurer within five (5) days of its determination.

D. An insurer or authorized representative of an insurer shall pay an appointment fee, in the amount and method of payment set forth in Section 1435.23 of this title, for each insurance producer appointed by the insurer for each insurer for which the insurance producer is appointed.

E. It shall be unlawful for any insurer to discriminate among or between the insurance producers it has appointed. Any person or company convicted of violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by the imposition of a fine of not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or imprisonment in the county jail for not less than six (6) months nor more than one (1) year, or be punished by both fine and imprisonment.

Added by Laws 2001, c. 156, § 15, eff. Nov. 1, 2001. Amended by Laws 2002, c. 307, § 17, eff. Nov. 1, 2002; Laws 2007, c. 125, § 13, eff. July 1, 2007; Laws 2009, c. 176, § 28, eff. Nov. 1, 2009; Laws 2014, c. 275, § 7, eff. Nov. 1, 2014; Laws 2019, c. 294, § 4, eff. Nov. 1, 2019.