Surplus line brokers may advertise and solicit using print, electronic media, direct mail, and all other advertising or marketing media. These advertisements and solicitations may include a description of nonadmitted insurance products available through the surplus line broker, and may include the name of any nonadmitted insurer, provided that all of the following apply: (a) the insurer is authorized to accept placements from the surplus line broker pursuant to Section 1765.1, (b) a nonadmitted insurer’s name is not used in connection with any nonadmitted insurance product of that insurer, (c) the unlicensed status of the insurer or of the insurance products is disclosed in type of a size no smaller than any telephone number, address, or fax number appearing in the advertisement or solicitation, and (d) the advertisement or solicitation does not contain any assertion, representation, or statement with respect to the business of insurance, or with respect to any person in the conduct of his or her insurance business, that is untrue, deceptive, or misleading, and that is known, or that by the exercise of reasonable care should be known, to be untrue, deceptive, or misleading. If the insurance is available from an eligible nonadmitted insurer that is a member of a group of insurers, advertisements and solicitations in accordance with this section may include the name of the group. A surplus line broker’s advertisements and solicitations shall not include any information about a nonadmitted insurer’s premiums or rates.
(Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 448, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 2002.)