(a) An insurer or insurance producer shall not pay a commission, service fee, brokerage fee or other valuable consideration to a person for selling, soliciting or negotiating insurance in this state if that person is required to be licensed under this part and is not so licensed.
Insurance producer: means a person required to be licensed under the laws of this state to sell, solicit or negotiate insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
Insurer: means any insurance company authorized to transact insurance business in this state. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
Negotiate: means the act of conferring directly with or offering advice directly to a purchaser or prospective purchaser of a particular contract of insurance concerning any of the substantive benefits, terms or conditions of the contract. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
Sell: means to exchange a contract of insurance by any means, for money or its equivalent, on behalf of an insurance company. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
Solicit: means attempting to sell insurance or asking or urging a person to apply for a particular kind of insurance from a particular company. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) A person shall not accept a commission, service fee, brokerage or other valuable consideration for selling, soliciting or negotiating insurance in this state if that person is required to be licensed under this part and is not so licensed.(c) Renewal or other deferred commissions may be paid to a person for selling, soliciting or negotiating insurance in this state if the person was required to be licensed under this part at the time of the sale, solicitation or negotiation and was so licensed at that time.(d) An insurer or insurance producer may pay or assign commissions, service fees, brokerages or other valuable consideration to an insurance agency or to persons who do not sell, solicit or negotiate insurance in this state, unless the payment would violate § 56-8-104(5) or (8).(e) An unlicensed person may make a referral to a licensed insurance producer if the person does not discuss the specific insurance policy terms and conditions. Except as prohibited by federal law, the unlicensed person may be compensated for the referral. However, an unlicensed person who is neither employed by nor affiliated with the licensed insurance producer may be compensated only if the compensation is a fixed dollar amount, not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or such lesser amount as the commissioner may establish by rule, for each referral. In either event, the referral compensation must not depend on whether the referred customer purchases an insurance product from the licensed insurance producer.
