South Carolina § 38-43-20 - Producer's license required; exceptions.

§ 38-43-20. Producer's license required; exceptions.

(A) A person may not sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance in this State for any line or lines of insurance unless the person is licensed for that line of authority in accordance with this chapter.

(B) No person may act as a producer for an insurer or for a fraternal benefit association unless a producer's license has been issued to him by the director or his designee.

(C) Nothing in this chapter may 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.

(D) A license as an insurance producer is not 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, director, or employee's activities are executive, administrative, managerial, clerical or a combination of these, and are only indirectly related to the sale, solicitation, or negotiation of insurance;

(b) the officer, director, 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;

(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;

(d) an employee of a licensed producer who is under the producer's direct supervision or an employee of a licensed insurer, who performs only clerical duties, and who is paid on an hourly or salary basis and not on a commission basis; or an agency office employee acting within the confines of the producer's office, under the direction and supervision of the licensed producer and within the scope of the producer's license, in the acceptance of request for insurance and payment of premiums and the performance of clerical, stenographic, and similar office duties;

(2) a person who secures and furnishes information for the purpose of group life insurance, group property and casualty 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 employers, 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 employers, associations, 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 the 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 on its own behalf insurance in this State through communications in printed publications or other forms of electronic mass media whose distribution is not limited to residents of the State, provided that 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, provided that 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 provided that the employee does not sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance or receive any commission.

HISTORY: Former 1976 Code SECTION 38-43-20 [1947 (45) 322; 1952 Code SECTION 37-652; 1962 Code SECTION 37-652] recodified as SECTION 38-73-20 by 1987 Act No. 155, SECTION 1; Former 1976 Code SECTION 38-51-20 [1947 (45) 322; 1952 Code SECTION 37-231; 1957 (50) 280; 1962 Code SECTION 37-231; 1972 (57) 2468] recodified as SECTION 38-43-20 by 1987 Act No. 155, SECTION 1; 1988 Act No. 371, SECTION 2; 1988 Act No. 471; 1989 Act No. 140, SECTION 1; 1993 Act No. 181, SECTION 655; 2002 Act No. 196, SECTION 1, eff March 27, 2002; 2002 Act No. 323, SECTION 2, eff January 31, 2003; 2008 Act No. 326, SECTION 1, eff June 16, 2008.