Ask PIA

Referral compensation for unlicensed persons

Is there a restriction on the type of compensation or incentives that can be offered to unlicensed persons for referrals?

Satellite offices

Could you review the requirements for staffing an agency’s satellite office?

National Insurance Producer Registry—license renewal

I’m an agency owner and listed as the responsible producer for my agency, and hold a valid property/casualty license. Why won’t the National Insurance Producer Registry website let me renew the agency license?

Nonresident excess/surplus placements

We have a New Jersey resident producer license with surplus-lines authority. We also have a New York broker’s license, but we do not hold a New York excess-line license. On occasion, we have placed New York residents or New York-based risks in carriers which are not admitted in New York state. We recently received an inquiry from the New York State Department of Financial Services questioning these activities. What is the law?

Reporting of administrative actions

Regarding licensing, what would be considered an “administrative action” that an insurance producer must report to the insurance commissioner?

Background checks

We have a company asking us to sign an authorization to do a criminal background check. The company says it is required by law to do them. Further, they said all companies are supposed to do these checks. To what law are they referring?

Public adjusters and brokers

What are the rules governing referral fees paid by public adjusters? Are they required to pay brokers for referring clients to them?

Florida licensing requirements

I plan on moving to Florida but would like to stay active selling insurance. What do I need to do to become licensed there?

Selling LTC policies

What type of producer license is needed to sell long-term care policies in New York?

Prospecting: incentives offered by unlicensed employee

Is it legal for us to run a sales promotion in which an unlicensed person calls prospective insureds and: 1) offers a free gift if they agree to receive a quote; and 2) asks for the prospect’s current insurance information. (A licensed person would follow-up on these calls.)

Referral fees to unlicensed persons

Can we pay someone who is not licensed a referral fee? We have two situations. First, we have a life insurance agent who works out of our office and we want him to refer his life insurance clients to our agency for their property/casualty business. Also, we employ a part-time telemarketer to get leads and set up sales calls. Can we pay these individuals a percentage of the commission we make from any sales that result from their referrals?

Signatures—agency employees

We have agency employees who are not sub-licensees on our corporate license. Is it permissible for them to sign insurance applications on behalf of the agency?

Controlled business commissions—the 10 percent rule

Is it legal for a New York-licensed insurance broker to act as the broker in placement of homeowners or commercial property insurance on a piece of property that is being acquired by the broker or by members of the broker’s immediate family?

Branch offices in various states

If I must give up my New York and New Jersey resident licenses, how can I have branch or home offices in the three [Florida] states?

New York insurance producers can resign from an account

May a producer resign from acting as an insured’s representative? If so, how should this be done and is the answer different for a resignation midterm on a policy rather than resignation at renewal time?

Promotional program to get referrals

We would like to run a promotion for our existing customers, asking them for referrals. The promotion would be that, for every five referrals we would give them a gift certificate/gift card to some vendor. Then their name would be entered into a drawing for a larger gift at the end of the promotion (six months). The question: What is the highest level of a gift certificate or gift card that can be given? I think I saw something saying it cannot be more than $15.

Referral payments

I’m setting up a referral program in which people receive a gift certificate or gift card when they provide five referrals to my agency. Can the gift certificate/card be given only for booked referrals or just when the person refers five prospects whether or not they are booked?

Referral fee vs. rebating

Can I legally give a gift certificate or gift card for referrals of prospective customers to my agency?

Does the vendor matter?

Could the vendor for the gift certificate or gift card be different each time?

End-of-promotion gifts

What type of promotional gifts can be given? Can it be a small TV? An IPOD?

Other referral fee resources

Are there any other materials available on how best to construct this promotion?

Licensing exemptions when writing a multistate risk

Do I need to be licensed in every state where one of my commercial clients has a location? I am licensed and write the policy where the company has its headquarters.

Who can be a sublicensee?

Our agency is a corporation licensed for property/casualty. We want to obtain a life insurance license for the corporation so it can accept shared commissions from another agent. One of our employees is licensed for life, but none of the corporate officers or directors currently hold a life license. Can we make the employee the sublicensee for purposes of obtaining the life license for the corporation?

Florida nonresident—receiving commissions

We have a producer in our office who is licensed in Florida as a nonresident. One of this producer’s clients is asking our agency to write a residential property in Florida. Our agency does NOT hold a Florida nonresident license. If we wanted to write the business and get a commission, would the agency need to have a Florida nonresident license?

Duty of licensee to report fraud, termination “for cause”

We are a wholesaler. A broker we deal with has issued checks in connection with insurance placements that subsequently have been dishonored by the bank. Do we have a duty to report this circumstance to the New York State Department of Financial Services?

URL does not need to be a licensed name

Our agency’s URL is different than the name that appears on our agency license. Does using this URL cause any issues? Specifically, do we need to be licensed under that name?

Soliciting door to door

I understood that my agent/broker/producer license gives me the authority to sell, negotiate and solicit insurance across my entire state. However, I was going door-to-door leaving advertising door hangers and was stopped by a law-enforcement officer and was told I could not solicit in that town/city/village, or at least not without a permit. I also was kicked out of a condominium complex where a “no soliciting” sign was posted. Can a village or a condo board really overrule the Insurance Department? Who has the final say in where I can or cannot solicit?

Licensing for Canada

What steps must I take to become licensed to sell insurance in Canada?

Nonresident licensing—Hawaii

I work for an agency that operates under a business-entity license. I have the opportunity to handle an account in Hawaii, and need to know if I can do so under an individual nonresident license, or if the agency needs to obtain nonresident licensure.

Master corporation sublicensee

I am thinking about creating a corporation to operate over and above my own LLC agency. Does the corporation have to be licensed in New York and, if so, can my LLC be a sublicensee?

Life/health accident license

Can I take a class and get the license for just the life portion of the life, health & accident authority license?

Massachusetts annual report form requirements

I am a New York resident who holds a Massachusetts nonresident business-entity license. I received a notice stating I had to submit an annual report form. I am unclear as to what this refers. Is this notice correct?

Out-of-state licensing

We hired an employee in July who has now been with us for six months. We are a New York agency and he works here in New York for us, however, he resides in Connecticut. What type of New York license can he get?

Unlicensed attorney cannot collect commissions

I heard that in New York an attorney does not have to be licensed in life/health or property/casualty to collect commissions on insurance sales. Is that true?

Brokers license authorities include accident and health '

I’ve held a broker’s license in New York for a number of years, dating back to before there was a so-called “life insurance broker” license. Recently, a couple of companies questioned my authority to transact health insurance. I know my broker’s license includes the health insurance authority, but how do I prove it?

Misdemeanor charges for licensees

I’m a licensed insurance agent in New York and I was recently arrested. Ultimately, I will plea all charges to a misdemeanor. Our agency’s insurance license is up for renewal and I know I have to notify the New York State Department of Financial Services of this. Is this something that could make me exempt from being able to be licensed?

Getting a brokers’ license when a property/casualty agent

I have a property/casualty agent’s license, but I want to apply for a broker’s license, too. What do I need to do to accomplish this? Do I need to retake classes and pass tests?

Agent and broker licensing—sealed criminal records

We are in the process of getting a new employee licensed. This employee has told us that he had a criminal record but that the record of this offense was sealed. How do we answer the question on the licensing application as to whether this person has a criminal record?

How to add or remove sublicensees

How do I add or remove sublicensees from my New York business-entity insurance license?

Agency perpetuation—unlicensed person

What happens to my agency when I die? Can my spouse or someone else take over for me without a license? 

Citizenship requirements for licensing

Can a noncitizen be an insurance agent?

Obtaining individual license