Section 83-17-7 - Commission to unauthorized agent unlawful; employees or authorized agents of limited license rental car company may receive commission under rental car company's limited license(1) It shall be unlawful for any insurance company or any insurance agent to pay, directly or indirectly, any commission, brokerage or other valuable consideration on account of any policy or policies written on risks in this state to any person, agent, firm or corporation not duly licensed as an insurance agent in this state, except that property and other risks of nonresident persons, and of foreign corporations not qualified in this state, may be insured by brokers or other agents duly licensed in other states. It shall be lawful, however, for an insurance company or any insurance agent to pay, directly or indirectly, to the surviving spouse or heirs of a deceased licensed insurance agent in this state any commissions or other valuable consideration to which the deceased agent would be entitled, whether such surviving spouse or heir is or is not a licensed agent.
It shall be lawful for an insurance agent, agency or affiliate to pay a referral fee to any unlicensed employee of the agent, agency or affiliate when the employee refers a prospective insured to the licensed agent or agency. The referral fee shall be a one-time nominal fee of a fixed dollar amount for each referral customer. The payment of any referral fee shall not depend on whether the referral results in a sale of any insurance products. Furthermore, the referral fee shall not be based on a percentage of any premiums or commissions collected by the licensed agent. The referral fee shall not be paid, either directly or indirectly, to the prospective insured.
(2) Notwithstanding any provision in this section to the contrary, employees and authorized agents of a limited license rental car company:(a) May receive compensation for activities under the rental car company's limited license that is incidental to their overall compensation, including, but not limited to, commissions, bonuses and other valuable consideration;(b) May offer, sell or solicit, in connection with and incidental to the rental of rental cars, the kinds of insurance specified in Section 83-17-63(1)(h) under the limited license of the rental car company; and(c) Shall not require any additional licensing under this chapter or any other provision of Title 83 relating to paragraph (a) or (b) above.(3) The Commissioner of Insurance may promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.Codes, 1942, § 5710; Laws, 1938, ch. 194; Laws, 1975, ch. 372; Laws, 1999, ch. 474, § 1; Laws, 2001, ch. 433, § 3; Laws, 2006, ch. 315, § 1; Laws, 2010, ch. 419, § 2, eff. 7/1/2010.Amended by Laws, 2015, ch. 364, SB 2443, 1, eff. 7/1/2015.