Oklahoma § 36-1435.13 - Suspension, revocation or refusal to issue or renew

§ 36-1435.13. Suspension, revocation or refusal to issue or renew

license – Probation and censure – Grounds – Notice – Fines.

A. The Insurance Commissioner may place on probation, censure,

suspend, revoke or refuse to issue or renew a license issued

pursuant to the Oklahoma Producer Licensing Act or may levy a civil

penalty in accordance with subsection D of this section or any

combination of actions, for any one or more of the following causes:

1. Providing incorrect, misleading, incomplete or materially

untrue information in the license application;

2. Violating any insurance laws, or violating any regulation,

subpoena or order of the Insurance Commissioner or of another

state’s Insurance Commissioner;

3. Obtaining or attempting to obtain a license through

misrepresentation or fraud;

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 36. Insurance

4. Improperly withholding, misappropriating or converting any

monies or properties received in the course of doing insurance

business;

5. Intentionally misrepresenting the terms of an actual or

proposed insurance contract or application for insurance;

6. Having been convicted of a felony;

7. Having admitted or been found to have committed any

insurance unfair trade practice or fraud;

8. Using fraudulent, coercive or dishonest practices, or

demonstrating incompetence, untrustworthiness or financial

irresponsibility in the conduct of business in this state or

elsewhere;

9. Having an insurance producer license, or its equivalent,

denied, suspended, censured, placed on probation or revoked in any

other state, province, district or territory;

10. Forging another’s name to an application for insurance or

to any document related to an insurance transaction;

11. Improperly using notes or any other reference material to

complete an examination for an insurance license;

12. Knowingly accepting insurance business from an individual

who is not licensed;

13. Failing to comply with an administrative or court order

imposing a child support obligation;

14. Failing to pay state income tax or comply with any

administrative or court order directing payment of state income tax;

15. Failing to respond to an inquiry from the Department as

required in Section 1250.4 of this title; or

16. Any cause for which an original issuance of a license could

have been refused.

B. In the event that the action by the Insurance Commissioner

is to nonrenew or to deny an application for a license, the

Insurance Commissioner shall notify the applicant or licensee and

advise the applicant or licensee, in writing, of the reason for the

denial or nonrenewal of the applicant’s or licensee’s license. The

applicant or licensee may make written demand upon the Insurance

Commissioner within thirty (30) days of the date of notification of

the notification by the Insurance Commissioner for a hearing before

the Insurance Commissioner or an independent hearing examiner to

determine the reasonableness of the Insurance Commissioner’s action.

The hearing shall be heard within a reasonable time period and shall

be held pursuant to the Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act.

C. The license of a business entity may be suspended, revoked

or refused if the Insurance Commissioner finds, after opportunity

for hearing, that an individual licensee’s violation was known or

should have been known by one or more of the partners, officers or

managers acting on behalf of the partnership or corporation and the

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 36. Insurance

violation was neither reported to the Insurance Commissioner nor

corrective action taken.

D. In addition to or in lieu of any applicable denial,

probation, censure, suspension or revocation of a license, a person

may, after opportunity for hearing, be subject to a civil fine of

not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) for each occurrence.

The penalty may be enforced in the same manner in which civil

judgments may be enforced.

E. Every licensee licensed pursuant to the provisions of the

Oklahoma Producer Licensing Act shall keep at the licensee’s place

of business the usual and customary records pertaining to

transactions authorized by the license. All records as to any

particular transactions shall be kept available and open to the

inspection of the Commissioner at any time during business hours

during the three (3) years immediately following the date of

completion of the transaction. The Commissioner may require a

financial or market conduct examination during any investigation of

a licensee. The cost of such examination shall be apportioned among

all of the appointing insurers of the licensee.

F. The Insurance Commissioner shall retain the authority to

enforce the provisions of and impose any penalty or remedy

authorized by the Oklahoma Producer Licensing Act and this title

against any person who is under investigation for or charged with a

violation of the Oklahoma Producer Licensing Act or this title even

if the person’s license or registration has been surrendered or has

lapsed by operation of law.

G. Files pertaining to investigations or legal matters which

contain information concurring a current and ongoing investigation

of allegations of violations of the Oklahoma Insurance Code by a

licensed agent shall not be available for public inspection without

proper judicial authorization; however, a licensee under

investigation for alleged violations of the Oklahoma Insurance Code,

or against whom an action for alleged violations of the Oklahoma

Insurance Code has been commenced, may view evidence and complaints

pertaining to the investigation, other than privileged information,

at reasonable times at the Commissioner’s office. All qualification

examination materials, booklets and answers for any license

authorized to be issued by the Commissioner under any statute shall

not be available for public inspection. The residence address,

residence telephone number, birth date and Social Security number of

a licensee shall not be available for public inspection. A separate

business or mailing address provided by the licensee shall be

considered a public record. If the residence and business addresses

or residence and business telephone numbers are the same, such

addresses or telephone numbers shall be considered a public record.

H. The Commissioner shall promptly notify all appointing

insurers, where applicable, and the licensee regarding any censure,

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 36. Insurance

suspension, revocation or termination of license by the

Commissioner.

I. Upon suspension, revocation or termination of the license of

a resident or nonresident of this state, the Commissioner shall

notify the Central Office of the National Association of Insurance

Commissioners, or its appropriate nonprofit affiliates and the

Insurance Commissioner of each state for whom the Commissioner has

executed a certificate of licensure status.

J. The Commissioner may issue a duplicate license for any lost,

stolen or destroyed license issued pursuant to the Oklahoma Producer

Licensing Act upon an affidavit of the licensee prescribed by the

Commissioner concerning the facts of such loss, theft or

destruction.

Added by Laws 2001, c. 156, § 13, eff. Nov. 1, 2001. Amended by

Laws 2004, c. 274, § 9, eff. July 1, 2004; Laws 2007, c. 125, § 12,

eff. July 1, 2007; Laws 2019, c. 294, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 2019; Laws

2021, c. 408, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2021; Laws 2023, c. 196, § 1, eff.

Nov. 1, 2023.

§36-1435.13a. Property and casualty insurance producers - Fiduciary

duties - Violation - Punishment.

A. The provisions of this section shall apply only to property

and casualty insurance producers. All premiums belonging to

insurers and all unearned premiums belonging to insureds received by

an insurance producer licensee under this article shall be treated

by the insurance producer licensee in a fiduciary capacity.

1. All premiums received less commissions, if authorized, shall

be remitted by the insurance producer licensee to the insurer or its

agent entitled thereto on or before the contractual due date or, if

there is no contractual due date, within forty-five (45) days after

receipt.

2. All returned premiums received from insurers or credited by

insurers to the account of the insurance producer licensee shall be

remitted to or credited to the account of the licensee entitled

thereto within thirty (30) days after receipt or credit.

3. An insurer or its agent shall promptly report to the

Commissioner in writing the failure of any insurance producer to

account for any collected premium to the insurer entitled to the

accounting or to the insurer’s agent entitled thereto for more than

forty-five (45) days after the contractual due date or, if there is

no contractual due date, more than ninety (90) days after receipt.

B. Every insurer shall remit unearned premiums to the insured

or the proper agent or shall otherwise credit the account of the

proper insurance producer licensee as soon as is practicable after

entitlement thereto has been established but in no event more than

forty-five (45) days after the effective date of any cancellation or

termination effected by the insurer or after the date of entitlement

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 36. Insurance

thereto as established by notification of cancellation or of

termination or as otherwise established. Any insurance producer

licensee having knowledge of a failure on the part of any insurer to

comply with this subsection shall promptly report such failure to

the Commissioner in writing.

C. No insurance producer licensee under this article shall

commingle premiums belonging to insurers and returned premiums

belonging to insureds with the personal funds of the insurance

producer licensee or with any other funds except those directly

connected with the producer licensee’s insurance business.

D. Any insurer that delivers in this state a policy of

insurance to an insurance producer licensee representing the

interest of an insured upon the application or request of the

insurance producer licensee shall be deemed to have authorized the

producer to receive any premium due upon issuance or delivery of the

policy on behalf of the insurer.

E. 1. An insurance producer licensee or surplus line producer

convicted of knowingly misappropriating or knowingly converting to

his or her own use or wrongfully withholding fiduciary moneys in the

amount of One Hundred Fifty Dollars ($150.00) or less is guilty of a

misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars

($1,000.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to

exceed one year or by both such fine and imprisonment.

2. An insurance producer licensee or surplus line producer with

a second or subsequent conviction for knowingly misappropriating or

knowingly converting to his or her own use or wrongfully withholding

fiduciary moneys in the amount of One Hundred Fifty Dollars

($150.00) or less or who is convicted of knowingly misappropriating

or knowingly converting to his or her own use or wrongfully

withholding premiums in an amount in excess of One Hundred Fifty

Dollars ($150.00) is guilty of a felony punishable by a fine not to

exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or by imprisonment in the

custody of the Department of Corrections for a term not to exceed

five (5) years or by both such fine and imprisonment.

F. The Commissioner may promulgate rules for the implementation

of this section.

Added by Laws 2006, c. 264, § 48, eff. July 1, 2006.