Section 33-23-4. License required; restrictions on payment or receipt of commissions; positions indirectly related to sale, solicitation, or negotiation of insurance excluded from licensing requirements

   (a)(1) A person shall not sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance in this state for any class or classes of insurance unless the person is licensed for that line of authority in accordance with this chapter and applicable regulations.

   (2) Any individual who sells, solicits, or negotiates insurance in this state must be licensed as an agent.

   (3) Any business entity that sells, solicits, or negotiates insurance in this state must be licensed as an agency.

(b) No insurer or agent doing business in this state shall pay, directly or indirectly, any commissions or any other valuable consideration to any person for services as an agent, subagent, or adjuster within this state, unless such person is duly licensed in accordance with this article.

(c) An insurer may pay a commission or other valuable consideration to a licensed insurance agency in which all employees, stockholders, directors, or officers who sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance contracts are qualified insurance agents, limited subagents, or counselors holding currently valid licenses as required by the laws of this state; and an agent, limited subagent, or counselor may share any commission or other valuable consideration with such a licensed insurance agency.

(d) No person other than a duly licensed adjuster, agent, limited subagent, or counselor shall pay or accept any commission or other valuable consideration except as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this Code section.

(e) This Code section shall not prevent the payment or receipt of renewal or deferred commissions by any agency or a person on the grounds that the licensee has ceased to be an agent, limited subagent, or counselor nor prevent the receipt or payment of any commission by an individual who has been issued a temporary license pursuant to this chapter.

(f) Any individual who has been licensed as an agent for ten consecutive years or more and who does not perform any of the functions specified in paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of Code Section 33-23-1 other than receipt of renewal or deferred commissions shall be exempt from the requirement to maintain at least one certificate of authority; provided, however, that if such individual wishes to again perform any of the other functions specified in said paragraph, such individual must obtain approval from the Commissioner and comply with the requirements of this chapter and applicable rules and regulations, including without limitation the requirements for certificate of authority.

(g) Any person who willfully violates this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to punishment as provided in Code Section 17-10-3, relating to punishment for misdemeanors.
   (h)(1) Nothing in this article shall be construed to require an insurer to obtain an insurance agent's license. As used in this Code section, the term "insurer" does not include an insurer's officers, directors, employees, subsidiaries, or affiliates.

   (2) A license as an insurance agent shall not be required of the following:

      (A) An officer, director, or employee of an insurer or of an insurance agent or agency, provided that the officer, director, or employee does not receive any commission on policies written or sold to insure risks residing, located, or to be performed in this state and:

         (i) The officer, director, or employee's activities are executive, administrative, managerial, clerical, or a combination of these, and are only indirectly related to the sale, solicitation, or negotiation of insurance;

         (ii) The officer, director, or employee's function relates to underwriting, loss control, inspection, or the processing, adjusting, investigating, or settling of a claim on a contract of insurance; or

         (iii) The officer, director, or employee is acting in the capacity of a special agent or agency supervisor assisting insurance agents where the person's activities are limited to providing technical advice and assistance to licensed insurance producers and do not include the sale, solicitation, or negotiation of insurance;

      (B) A person who meets the criteria set forth in paragraph (6) of subsection (b) of Code Section 33-23-1;

      (C) An employer or association or its officers, directors, or employees or the trustees of an employee trust plan to the extent that the employers, officers, employees, directors, or trustees are engaged in the administration or operation of a program of employee benefits for the employer's or association's own employees or the employees of its subsidiaries or affiliates, which program involves the use of insurance issued by an insurer, so long as the employers, associations, officers, directors, employees, or trustees are not in any manner compensated, directly or indirectly, by the company issuing the contracts;

      (D) Employees of insurers or organizations employed by insurers who are engaging in the inspection, rating, or classification of risks or in the supervision of the training of insurance agents and who are not individually engaged in the sale, solicitation, or negotiation of insurance;

      (E) A person whose activities in this state are limited to advertising without the intent to solicit insurance in this state through communications in printed publications or other forms of electronic mass media whose distribution is not limited to residents of the state, provided that the person does not sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance that would insure risks residing, located, or to be performed in this state;

      (F) A person who is not a resident of this state who sells, solicits, or negotiates a contract of insurance for commercial property and casualty risks to an insured with risks located in more than one state insured under that contract, provided that the person is otherwise licensed as an insurance agent to sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance in the state where the insured maintains its principal place of business and the contract of insurance insures risks located in that state; or

      (G) A salaried, full-time employee who counsels or advises his or her employer relative to the insurance interests of the employer or of the subsidiaries or business affiliates of the employer provided that the employee does not sell or solicit insurance or receive a commission.

Code 1981, § 33-23-4, enacted by Ga. L. 1992, p. 2830, § 1; Ga. L. 1996, p. 705, § 9; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1296, § 4; Ga. L. 2001, p. 925, § 1; Ga. L. 2008, p. 1076, § 2/SB 113.