(a)        Any person, firm or corporation doing business under the authority of any law of this State or of the United States relating to banks, trust companies, installment paper dealers, auto finance companies, savings and loan associations, cooperative credit unions, agricultural credit corporations or associations, organized under the laws of North Carolina or any person, firm or corporation subject to the provisions of the North Carolina Consumer Finance Act and the North Carolina Motor Vehicle Dealers and Manufacturers Licensing Law, Article 12, Chapter 20, of the General Statutes of North Carolina are exempt from the provisions of this Article.

(b)        An insurance company duly licensed in this State may make an installment payment charge as set forth in the rate filings and approved by the Commissioner and is thereby exempt from the provisions of this Article.

(c)        An insurance producer with a property and casualty lines of authority duly licensed in this State who extends credit to and only to his own policyholders may charge and collect finance charges or other fees at a periodic (monthly) rate as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 24-11(a), after said amount has been outstanding for 30 days, and is hereby exempt from the provisions of this Article. Notwithstanding the exceptions set forth in subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this section, when any person, firm, or corporation shall exercise a power of attorney taken in connection with the financing of an insurance premium, such person, firm or corporation shall comply with the requirements of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 58-35-85, as if it were an insurance premium financing company. ?(1963, c. 1118; 1967, c. 942, s. 1; 1971, c. 1186, ss. 1, 2; 1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 742, s. 25; 2022-46, s. 14(ii).)