Tennessee § 56-49-112 - Premium remittance — Commissions.

§ 56-49-112. Premium remittance — Commissions.

The entire amount of the premium due from a creditor shall be remitted to the insurer or its agent in accordance with the insurer's requirements. No commissions may be paid to, or retained by, a person or entity except a licensed and appointed insurance agent. The retention by the creditor of unearned premiums upon cancellation of the insurance without crediting to the debtor's account the amount of unearned insurance charges is prohibited. Rebates to the creditor of a portion of the premium charged to the debtor are prohibited as are other inducements provided to the creditor by an insurer or agent. The listing of the following activities as prohibited rebates or inducements is not intended to be restrictive, and the commissioner may identify an activity as prohibited by rule, regulation or order: Allowing insurers or agents to purchase certificates of deposit from the creditor or to maintain accounts with the creditor at less than the market interest rates and charges that the creditor applies to other customers for deposit accounts of similar amounts and duration; Paying a commission to a person, including a creditor, who is not appropriately licensed as an agent in this state; and Purchasing or offering to purchase certificates of deposit from or maintaining or offering to maintain deposit accounts or investment accounts with a creditor as part of a creditor-placed insurance solicitation. Prohibited rebates or inducements do not include: The providing of insurance tracking and other services incidental to the creditor-placed insurance program; The paying of commissions and other compensation to a duly licensed and appointed insurance agent, whether or not affiliated with the creditor; The paying to the creditor policyholder of group experience rated refunds or policy dividends; or The paying to the creditor of amounts intended to reimburse the creditor for its expenses incurred incidental to the creditor-placed insurance program, such as costs of data processing, mail processing, telephone service, insurance tracking, billing, collections and related activities; provided, that these payments are calculated in a manner that does not exceed an amount reasonably estimated to equal the expenses incurred by the creditor. An insurer that pays commissions to creditor-related agents for creditor-placed insurance that are greater than twenty percent (20%) of the net written premium shall be required to demonstrate the commissions are not unreasonably high in relation to the value of the services rendered. Nothing contained in this section shall prohibit or restrict an insurer or agent from maintaining a demand, premium deposit or other account or accounts with a creditor for which the insurer or agent provides insurance if the accounts pay the market interest rate and charges that the creditor applies to other customers for deposit accounts of similar amounts and duration. Acts 1999, ch. 144, § 12.