Public Act 097-0113
 
HB1287 EnrolledLRB097 06812 RPM 46903 b

    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Insurance Code is amended by
changing Sections 500-10 and 500-35 as follows:
 
    (215 ILCS 5/500-10)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2017)
    Sec. 500-10. Definitions. In addition to the definitions in
Section 2 of the Code, the following definitions apply to this
Article:
    "Business entity" means a corporation, association,
partnership, limited liability company, limited liability
partnership, or other legal entity.
    "Car rental limited line licensee" means a person
authorized under the provisions of Section 500-105 to sell
certain coverages relating to the rental of vehicles.
    "Home state" means the District of Columbia and any state
or territory of the United States in which an insurance
producer maintains his or her principal place of residence or
principal place of business and is licensed to act as an
insurance producer.
    "Insurance" means any of the lines of authority in Section
500-35, any health care plan under the Health Maintenance
Organization Act, or any limited health care plan under the
Limited Health Service Organization Act.
    "Insurance producer" means a person required to be licensed
under the laws of this State to sell, solicit, or negotiate
insurance.
    "Insurer" means a company as defined in subsection (e) of
Section 2 of this Code, a health maintenance organization as
defined in the Health Maintenance Organization Act, or a
limited health service organization as defined in the Limited
Health Service Organization Act.
    "License" means a document issued by the Director
authorizing an individual to act as an insurance producer for
the lines of authority specified in the document or authorizing
a business entity to act as an insurance producer. The license
itself does not create any authority, actual, apparent, or
inherent, in the holder to represent or commit an insurance
carrier.
    "Limited lines insurance" means those lines of insurance
defined in Section 500-100 or any other line of insurance that
the Director may deem it necessary to recognize for the
purposes of complying with subsection (e) of Section 500-40.
    "Limited lines producer" means a person authorized by the
Director to sell, solicit, or negotiate limited lines
insurance.
    "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, provided that the person engaged in that act either
sells insurance or obtains insurance from insurers for
purchasers.
    "Person" means an individual or a business entity.
    "Rental agreement" means a written agreement setting forth
the terms and conditions governing the use of a vehicle
provided by a rental company for rental or lease.
    "Rental company" means a person, or a franchisee of the
person, in the business of providing primarily private
passenger vehicles to the public under a rental agreement for a
period not to exceed 30 days.
    "Rental period" means the term of the rental agreement.
    "Renter" means a person obtaining the use of a vehicle from
a rental company under the terms of a rental agreement for a
period not to exceed 30 days.
    "Self-service storage facility limited line licensee"
means a person authorized under the provisions of Section
500-107 to sell certain coverages relating to the rental of
self-service storage facilities.
    "Sell" means to exchange a contract of insurance by any
means, for money or its equivalent, on behalf of an insurance
company.
    "Solicit" means attempting to sell insurance or asking or
urging a person to apply for a particular kind of insurance
from a particular company.
    "Terminate" means the cancellation of the relationship
between an insurance producer and the insurer or the
termination of a producer's authority to transact insurance.
    "Uniform Business Entity Application" means the current
version of the National Association of Insurance
Commissioners' Uniform Business Entity Application for
nonresident business entities.
    "Uniform Application" means the current version of the
National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Uniform
Application for nonresident producer licensing.
    "Vehicle" or "rental vehicle" means a motor vehicle of (1)
the private passenger type, including passenger vans, mini
vans, and sport utility vehicles or (2) the cargo type,
including cargo vans, pickup trucks, and trucks with a gross
vehicle weight of less than 26,000 pounds the operation of
which does not require the operator to possess a commercial
driver's license.
    "Webinar" means an online educational presentation during
which a live and participating instructor and participating
viewers, whose attendance is periodically verified throughout
the presentation, actively engage in discussion and in the
submission and answering of questions.
(Source: P.A. 92-386, eff. 1-1-02; 93-288, eff. 1-1-04.)
 
    (215 ILCS 5/500-35)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2017)
    Sec. 500-35. License.
    (a) Unless denied a license pursuant to Section 500-70,
persons who have met the requirements of Sections 500-25 and
500-30 shall be issued a 2-year insurance producer license. An
insurance producer may receive qualification for a license in
one or more of the following lines of authority:
        (1) Life: insurance coverage on human lives including
    benefits of endowment and annuities, and may include
    benefits in the event of death or dismemberment by accident
    and benefits for disability income.
        (2) Variable life and variable annuity products:
    insurance coverage provided under variable life insurance
    contracts and variable annuities.
        (3) Accident and health or sickness: insurance
    coverage for sickness, bodily injury, or accidental death
    and may include benefits for disability income.
        (4) Property: insurance coverage for the direct or
    consequential loss or damage to property of every kind.
        (5) Casualty: insurance coverage against legal
    liability, including that for death, injury, or disability
    or damage to real or personal property.
        (6) Personal lines: property and casualty insurance
    coverage sold to individuals and families for primarily
    noncommercial purposes.
        (7) Any other line of insurance permitted under State
    laws or rules.
    (b) An insurance producer license shall remain in effect
unless revoked or suspended as long as the fee set forth in
Section 500-135 is paid and education requirements for resident
individual producers are met by the due date.
        (1) Before each license renewal, an insurance producer
    must satisfactorily complete at least 24 hours of course
    study in accordance with rules prescribed by the Director.
    Three of the 24 hours of course study must consist of
    classroom ethics instruction. The Director may not approve
    a course of study unless the course provides for classroom,
    seminar, webinar, or self-study instruction methods. A
    course given in a combination instruction method of
    classroom, or seminar, webinar, or and self-study shall be
    deemed to be a self-study course unless the classroom, or
    seminar, or webinar certified hours meets or exceeds
    two-thirds of total hours certified for the course. The
    self-study material used in the combination course must be
    directly related to and complement the classroom portion of
    the course in order to be considered for credit. An
    instruction method other than classroom or seminar shall be
    considered as self-study methodology. Self-study credit
    hours require the successful completion of an examination
    covering the self-study material. The examination may not
    be self-evaluated. However, if the self-study material is
    completed through the use of an approved computerized
    interactive format whereby the computer validates the
    successful completion of the self-study material, no
    additional examination is required. The self-study credit
    hours contained in a certified course shall be considered
    classroom hours when at least two-thirds of the hours are
    given as classroom or seminar instruction.
        (2) An insurance producer license automatically
    terminates when an insurance producer fails to
    successfully meet the requirements of item (1) of
    subsection (b) of this Section. The producer must complete
    the course in advance of the renewal date to allow the
    education provider time to report the credit to the
    Department.
    (c) A provider of a pre-licensing or continuing education
course required by Section 500-30 and this Section must pay a
registration fee and a course certification fee for each course
being certified as provided by Section 500-135.
    (d) An individual insurance producer who allows his or her
license to lapse may, within 12 months after the due date of
the renewal fee, be issued a license without the necessity of
passing a written examination. However, a penalty in the amount
of double the unpaid renewal fee shall be required after the
due date.
    (e) A licensed insurance producer who is unable to comply
with license renewal procedures due to military service may
request a waiver of those procedures.
    (f) The license must contain the licensee's name, address,
and personal identification number, the date of issuance, the
lines of authority, the expiration date, and any other
information the Director deems necessary.
    (g) Licensees must inform the Director by any means
acceptable to the Director of a change of address within 30
days after the change.
    (h) In order to assist in the performance of the Director's
duties, the Director may contract with a non-governmental
entity including the National Association of Insurance
Commissioners (NAIC), or any affiliates or subsidiaries that
the NAIC oversees, to perform any ministerial functions,
including collection of fees, related to producer licensing
that the Director and the non-governmental entity may deem
appropriate.
(Source: P.A. 96-839, eff. 1-1-10.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.