News Briefs
ARKANSAS
Pre-License CE Requirements Modified
The Arkansas Insurance Department announced that a portion of the Arkansas Insurance Code ad-dressing education hours for applicants for Arkansas insurance agent, broker or producer licenses has been amended. Arkansas Code ยง23-64-202(b)(2)(A)(iii) was amended as a result of Act 1948. Changes are effective Aug. 12, 2005.
When the Act is effective, the number of education hours for a producer license applicant to meet Arkansas’ pre-license education requirements is reduced from 36 hours to 20 hours per line of authority. The lines of authority per this law are: Life; accident/health/sickness; property/casualty; and personal lines.
The department must approve in advance pre-license hours, course providers and procedures. This Act will also apply to non-resident producer-applicants whose home state laws do not include the PLMA or whose state of domicile is not reciprocal with the State of Arkansas. Non-resident producers who move to Arkansas to establish residency, and whose home state laws are not reciprocal with Arkansas (as they do not include PLMA provisions similar to Arkansas), will be required to meet the pre-license education hour requirements.
The Act also says an applicant will not be required to take the five hours of instruction on Arkansas laws and rules if he/she has taken those particular five hours for a previous line of insurance authority within the last two years. Example: Only 15 pre-license hours for a new line of authority would be required for a resident applicant, who took 5 hours of insurance law/rules as pre-license hours for a previous license or line of authority six months ago (as it is within the preceding two years).
Act 1948 of 2005 may be accessed on the Internet at www.arkleg.state.ar.us under “ACTS”.
Contact the License Division of the Department for information at (501) 371-2750 or e-mail Insurance.License-@Arkansas.gov for information.
LOUISIANA
House Kills Nursing Home Lawsuit Bill
The Louisiana House of Representatives killed a bill that would have allowed nursing home patients to sue for damages for certain violations of their rights, such as being a victim of mental and physical abuse.
The measure by Rep. Clara Baudoin, D-Carencro, faced strong opposition from the Louisiana nursing home industry, plus the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry and the Louisiana Hospital Association. They said the passage of the bill would cause escalating insurance costs because of lawsuits, thus taking money away from residents’ care.
The bill failed in a vote of 28-62.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Gonzales Producer Shut Down
The Louisiana Department of Insurance reported that Mary Jo Guillot St. Amant, a Gonzales, La., insurance producer, surrendered her insurance licenses after she was arrested on charges that included misappropriation of insurance premium payments.
St. Amant, 38, president and 100 percent owner of Ascension Insurance Agency LLC, was arrested by the State Police Fraud Unit and booked into the Ascension Parish Jail. St. Amant is alleged to have violated the Louisiana Insurance Code by failing to timely remit premium owed and engaging in dishonest practices in the conduct of business.
DOI records show that St. Amant held personal life/health and property/casualty insurance licenses from Oct. 28, 2003, until the current action.
Producer Accused of Taking More Than $250K From Employer
A Tangipahoa, La., insurance producer received a cease and desist order from the Louisiana Department of Insurance for allegedly bilking her employer, insurance producer Henry Powell, Jr., of more than $250,000. Laura Elizabeth Watkins was served with a C&D order and summary suspension of her license.
Watkins is accused of taking at least $255,000 from her company’s operating account without the permission of her employer between 1999 and 2004. There is no evidence that any insurance premium payments were involved and no policyholders were harmed by Watkins’ actions, the DOI said.
The C&D follows her initial arrest by the Ponchatoula Police Department in December 2004 and her subsequent guilty plea in April 2005 to 50 counts of felony theft. As a special condition of her probation, Watkins was required to pay restitution to the victim, Henry Powell, Jr.
DOI records show that Watkins held a life, health and accident insurance license from June 1999 until the current action.
OKLAHOMA
Top Flight Placed into Receivership
Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland placed Top Flight Insurance Company, an auto insurance carrier with offices in Arlington, Texas, in permanent receivership following a May 20 hearing on the company’s financial condition.
Top Flight had been in temporary receivership since early May 2005 at which time the Oklahoma Insurance Department reported it believed Flight to be insolvent by approximately $3.5 million. The department said Top Flight’s annual reports indicate that a managing general agent, Source General Agency Inc. of Oklahoma City, carried out the company’s business and received premiums on its behalf.
“Top Flight is going straight into liquidation, because there is no realistic hope of salvaging the company,” Holland said. “We want to make certain there is no major disruption for policyholders. Even though the company does not have funds available to pay claims, the Oklahoma Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Fund will financially back the coverage promised by the policies.”
All policies will be canceled in the next 30 days, and policyholders will receive a proof of claim form. Consumers may call the Office of the Assistant Receiver at (405) 947-0022 for additional information.
Source General Agency also is in receivership and is being liquidated, Holland said.