South Carolina General Assembly
109th Session, 1991-1992

Bill 527


Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter


                    Current Status

Introducing Body:               Senate
Bill Number:                    527
Primary Sponsor:                Saleeby
Committee Number:               02
Type of Legislation:            GB
Subject:                        Property insurers, biennial
                                continuing education
Residing Body:                  Senate
Current Committee:              Banking and Insurance
Companion Bill Number:          3320
Computer Document Number:       CYY/18022.SD
Introduced Date:                Jan 22, 1991
Last History Body:              Senate
Last History Date:              Jan 22, 1991
Last History Type:              Introduced, read first time,
                                referred to Committee
Scope of Legislation:           Statewide
All Sponsors:                   Saleeby
                                Land
                                McConnell
                                Mullinax
                                Pope
Type of Legislation:            General Bill



History


 Bill  Body    Date          Action Description              CMN
 ----  ------  ------------  ------------------------------  ---
 527   Senate  Jan 22, 1991  Introduced, read first time,    02
                             referred to Committee

View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND ARTICLE 1, CHAPTER 43, TITLE 38, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO INSURANCE AGENTS, BY ADDING SECTION 38-43-106 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR BIENNIAL CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS FOR AGENTS LICENSED TO SELL PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE AND TO AUTHORIZE THE CHIEF INSURANCE COMMISSIONER TO PROMULGATE REGULATIONS TO IMPLEMENT THESE PROVISIONS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. The General Assembly finds and declares that the business of insurance is complex and complicated, with rapidly increasing statutory and market changes, as well as rapidly increasing consumer requirements and demands. Therefore, it is clearly in the public interest that licensed insurance agents, with reasonable exceptions, be required to complete at least minimum biennial insurance-related education to insure their continuing competency to serve the needs of South Carolina's insuring public.

SECTION 2. Article 1, Chapter 43, Title 38 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 38-43-106. (A) In addition to the requirements contained in Section 38-3-105, any applicant or agent licensed to sell property and casualty insurance or to sell life, accident and health insurance or both, or qualified for this licensure, must complete biennially a minimum of twenty-four hours of continuing insurance education in order to be eligible for licensure for the following two years.

However, if an agent is licensed in both property and casualty and life, accident and health, the agent must complete at least one-third of the twenty-four required biennial continuing insurance education hours in courses related to each of these types of licenses or qualification for licensure.

(B) The forty hour prelicensing educational requirement contained in Section 38-43-105 is sufficient to fulfill the requirements of this section for up to the first two years. Any waiver of this forty-hour requirement, as provided in Section 38-43-105(a)(2) is sufficient to meet the continuing insurance education requirements of this section.

(C) The Chief Insurance Commissioner shall administer these continuing education requirements and shall approve courses of instruction which qualify for these purposes. In administering this program, the commissioner, in his discretion, may designate a continuing education administrator of this program, to be compensated from the continuing insurance education fees paid by agents in the manner provided by this section, except that course approval responsibilities may not be designated to the continuing education administrator. The continuing education administrator shall compile and maintain, in conjunction with insurers and agents, records reflecting the continuing insurance education status of all licensed or qualified agents subject to the requirements of this section. The continuing education administrator shall furnish to the insurer, within ninety days of the agent's renewal date, as specified by regulation, a report of the continuing insurance education status of all of its agents. All licensed agents shall provide evidence of their continuing insurance education status to the continuing education administrator at least one hundred twenty days before the annual renewal date. Any continuing insurance education approved courses taken subsequent to one hundred twenty days before the renewal date must be applied to the following biennial continuing insurance education required period.

The continuing education administrator must be composed of the following:

(1) the Carolina's Association of Professional Insurance Agents;

(2) the Independent Insurance Agents of South Carolina;

(3) the South Carolina Association of Automobile Insurance Agents; and

(4) the South Carolina Association of Life Underwriters.

The commissioner shall also appoint an advisory committee to assist him in screening courses offered for approval and to draft regulations, authorized by subsection (G), for approval by the commissioner. When the advisory committee is approved, it shall meet regularly as needed, but no less than semiannually, to review new course applications. Also the advisory committee shall review modifications of courses previously approved, and review previously promulgated regulations to determine any need for modifications, deletions, or new regulations. The advisory committee must be comprised of two representatives from each of the following associations, groups, or categories:

(1) the Carolina's Association of Professional Insurance Agents;

(2) the Independent Insurance Agents of South Carolina;

(3) the South Carolina Association of Automobile Insurance Agents;

(4) the South Carolina Association of Life Underwriters;

(5) the Association of South Carolina Life Insurance Companies;

(6) the Direct Writers Insurance Companies;

(7) the Association of South Carolina Property and Casualty Insurance Companies; and

(8) insurers that are not members of national insurance trade associations.

Advisory committee members must be appointed by the commissioner from recommendations made by the respective associations, groups, or categories to the commissioner.

(D) The license of any agent may not be renewed for any license year unless the agent has completed the mandated continuing insurance education requirements during the previous two-year accreditation period. Each insurer is responsible, annually at renewal, for furnishing to the department, certification that its agents meet the continuing insurance education requirements. Insurers appointing individuals who are qualified but not currently licensed for any insurer, are also required, in connection with the appointment of such an agent, to certify to the department that the agent meets the continuing insurance education requirements. Each agent is responsible for payment to the continuing education administrator of a reasonable annual fee for operation of the continuing insurance education program. These fees must be used to administer the provisions of this section.

(E) This section also applies to nonresident agents, unless otherwise provided herein. However, any nonresident agent who successfully satisfies continuing insurance education requirements of his resident state and certifies this information to the continuing education administrator as specified in subsection (C), is deemed to have satisfied the requirements of this section, regardless of the requirements of that other state.

(F) Insurance agents licensed solely for credit life or credit accident and health insurance, credit property insurance, crop hail insurance, automobile physical damage insurance, mortgage guaranty, or mortgage, title, travel accident and baggage, or the federal crop insurance, are exempt from the provisions of this section. Licensed special agents, or any or all of them, the commissioner by regulation shall specify, are exempt from the provisions of this section.

(G) The commissioner is authorized to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this section.

(H) A licensed agent reaching the age of fifty-five, with a minimum of twenty years of continuous licensure, is exempted from the requirements of this section as to the line or lines which are otherwise subject to the provisions of this section."

SECTION 3. Certification of licensed agents pursuant to the provisions of Section 38-43-106 of the 1976 Code, as contained in Section 2 of this act, may not commence until one hundred twenty days prior to the annual agents license renewal of the year 1994.

SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

-----XX-----