Arkansas Updates Procedures for Insurance Producer Appointment Renewals

Arkansas insurance regulators have published updated procedures for insurers to use in renewing producer appointments for 2011.

The Arkansas Insurance Department said by renewing a producer or agency appointment, insurance companies show that “the appointing company has reviewed the producer’s background and fitness to act as an agent.”

The AID also reminded carriers and producers that:

• The appointments of insurance producers that serve in active duty in any branch of the U.S. military must remain in effect during that period of service.
• Each producer’s appointment will remain in effect until terminated, unless the producer allows his or her license to expire. Appointments are terminated upon lapse of a producer’s license and are not automatically reinstated when a producer renews a lapsed license.
• If they want to renew the appointment of an agent whose license has lapsed, insurance companies must file a new appointment and pay the appointment fee when the producer’s license is reinstated or reactivated.

The appointment status of individual producers or agencies may be verified via the AID Web site or, for individual appointments only, through the NAIC Producer Database (PDB).

Insurers are instructed to annually review the records of its appointed producers and insurance agencies. Companies are required to verify the license status of each appointed individual or agency. That information is available on the AID’s Web site at www.insurance.arkansas.gov/license/divpage.htm.

To terminate an individual’s appointment, an insurer must process the termination with the insurance department and pay a $10 termination fee. Termination of agency appointments may be processed online through a system called LEO, https:\\leo.aithent.com.

AID said it would begin mailing invoices to insurers on June 1, 2011, “for the annual renewal fees for all the company’s active appointments as of May 31.” The renewal is effective until June 1, 2012.

Payment must be remitted to the insurance department within 30 days of the date of the invoice. Failure to remit payment by the deadline may result in a doubling of the renewal fee.

More information on renewing producer appointments is available on the Arkansas Department of Insurance Web site at www.insurance.arkansas.gov.

Source: Arkansas Insurance Department

Topics Carriers Arkansas