(a) Any person acting as a licensee under this chapter shall not act as an agent of an insurer unless the insurer has filed with the commissioner a notice of appointment, executed by the insurer, appointing the licensee as the insurer’s agent. Every property broker-agent, casualty broker-agent, personal lines broker-agent, or limited lines automobile insurance agent acting in the capacity of an insurance solicitor shall have filed on his or her behalf with the commissioner a notice executed by an insurance agent or insurance broker appointing and agreeing to employ the solicitor as an employee within this state. Additional notices of appointment may be filed by other insurers before the license is issued and thereafter as long as the license remains in force. The authority to transact insurance given to a licensee by an insurer, property broker-agent, casualty broker-agent, personal lines broker-agent, or limited lines automobile insurance agent, as the case may be, by appointment shall be effective as of the date the notice of appointment is signed. That authority to transact shall apply to transactions occurring after that date and for the purpose of determining the insurer’s, property broker-agent’s, casualty broker-agent’s, personal lines broker-agent’s, or limited lines automobile insurance agent’s liability for acts of the appointed licensee. No notice of appointment of a life agent, property broker-agent, casualty broker-agent, personal lines broker-agent, limited lines automobile insurance agent, or travel insurance agent shall be filed under this subdivision unless the licensee being appointed has consented to that filing. Each appointment made under this subdivision shall by its terms continue in force until:
(1) The cancellation or expiration of the license applied for or held at the time the appointment was filed.
(2) The filing of a notice of termination by the insurer or employing property broker-agent or casualty broker-agent, or by the appointed life agent, property broker-agent, casualty broker-agent, travel insurance agent, or insurance solicitor.
(b) Upon the termination of all appointments, or all endorsements naming the licensee on the license of an organization licensee, and the cancellation of the bond required pursuant to Section 1662 if acting as a broker, the permanent license shall not be canceled, but shall become inactive. It may be renewed pursuant to Section 1718. It may be reactivated at any time prior to its expiration by the filing of a new appointment pursuant to this section, Section 1707, and Section 1751.3, or the filing of a new bond pursuant to Section 1662. An inactive license shall not permit its holder to transact any insurance for which a valid, active license is required.
(c) Upon the termination of all appointments of a person licensed under a certificate of convenience, that certificate shall be canceled and shall be returned by its lawful custodian to the commissioner.
(d) A property broker-agent or a casualty broker-agent appointing an insurance solicitor pursuant to this section, if a natural person, shall be the holder of a permanent license to act as such a broker-agent or the holder of a certificate of convenience so to act issued pursuant to either subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 1685. If the property broker-agent or the casualty broker-agent is an organization, it shall be the holder of a permanent license.
(e) The filing of an incomplete or deficient action notice with the department shall require the filing of an amended, complete action notice, together with the payment of the fee therefor specified in subdivision (l) of Section 1751.
(f) A notice of appointment appointing a solicitor may be filed by a second or subsequent property broker-agent or casualty broker-agent. The broker-agent seeking to appoint the solicitor shall enter into an agreement with all other property broker-agents and casualty broker-agents with whom the insurance solicitor has an existing appointment. The agreement shall govern how the broker-agents will determine on which property broker-agent’s or casualty broker-agent’s behalf the solicitor is working when dealing with individuals who are customers of none of the property broker-agents and casualty broker-agents with whom the solicitor has an appointment. If the agreement does not identify which broker-agent or broker-agents are liable for the act of the solicitor, all property broker-agents and casualty broker-agents with whom the solicitor is appointed at the time of the act shall be jointly and severally liable for that act.
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 786, Sec. 29. (AB 2303) Effective January 1, 2013.)